•£*  &^ 

•$>          <<#, 


•^  J 


yV 


'^    *F 

^\ 


I     I) 


LVTKB  FOLIA  FRUCTUS.  —  Library  Motto  of  James  A.  Garfield. 


GARFIELD'S  WORDS 


SUGGESTIVE   PASSAGES    FROM 


THE  PUBLIC  AND  PRIVATE  WRITINGS 


OF 


JAMES  ABRAM  GARFIELD.  .      . 


COMPILED  .BV^    .  ,  .    .         ,     . 

WILLIAM  RALSTON  BALCIL 


BOSTON: 

IIOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   AND  COMPANY. 
CTIjc  Hibcrs'iUc  ^Orr^,  (Cambrttrgc. 

1881. 


Copyright,  1881, 
By  UOUGIITON,  MIFFLIN  &  CO. 

Ah  rights  reserved. 


The  Eiversidt  Press,  Cambridge : 
Electrotypcd  and  Printed  by  II.  0.  Houghton  &  Co. 


C-     &  Q   / 

A  '*r 
;8?/  a. 

MA  /A/ 


in  compliance  with  current  copyright 

law,  U.  C.  Library  Bindery  produced 

this  replacement  volume  on  paper 

that  meets  the  ANSI  Standard  Z39.48- 

1984  to  replace  the  irreparably 

deteriorated  original. 

1993 


To 
THE  MANY  THOUSAND  MEN  AND  WOMEN'  OF  THIS  REPUBLIC 

•WHOSE    LIVES    HAVE    BEEN   MADE    BETTER  AND    NOBLER 
BY   THE  MARTYRDOM   OF 

JAMES    A.   GARFIELD, 

Cljis  Folume 

13     AFFECTION  A  T  E  I,  V     DEDICATED. 


M97411 


PREFACE. 


THE  attention  paid  in  this  country  to  the  litera 
ture  of  Congress  and  the  literature  of  the  stump  is 
trifling.  This,  possibly,  is  excusable,  as  much  of  it 
is  but  the  sawdust  of  debate,  the  dry  chips  that 
some  prosy  orator  hews  from  the  block  of  a  tire 
some  topic.  Literary  brilliancies  are  seldom  ex 
pected  from  political  successes.  In  consequence 
much  that  is  valuable,  powerful,  and  eloquent  of 
national  life,  appearing  in  speeches  that  are  the  ex 
ception  to  the  rule,  is  missed  by  the  majority. 

The  reader  will,  probably,  read  with  surprise  — 
not  being  aware  of  their  existence  —  the  clever, 
philosophical,  manly,  and  patriotic  sayings  that  are 
printed  in  the  following  pages.  They  are  com 
piled  from  the  public  utterances  and  the  private 
letters  oi  our  late  President.  It  is  indeed  remark 
able  how  thickly  his  speeches  and  letters  are  stud 
ded  with  jewels  of  utterance. 

No  apology  is  presented  for  offering  this  little 


VI  PREFACE. 

volume  to  the  public,  and,  in  the  light  of  the  events 
that  have  followed  the  black  2d  of  July,  none  is 
needed.  The  compiler  has  made  no  great  effort  at 
elaborate  classification.  The  selections  have  been 
arranged  so  as  to  bear  a  certain  relation  of  subject, 
and  such  references  as  were  deemed  necessary  have 
been  added.  The  index  to  subjects  will  permit  of 
quick  search  for  any  desired  theine. 

The  manly  beauty,  the  wit  and  appreciable  wis 
dom  of  much  that  President  Garfield  uttered,  can 
not  but  win  its  way  to  an  abiding  place  in  the 
hearts  of  the  American  people,  and  serve  to  bring 
them  into  closer  relation  with  the  admirable  sen 
timents  of  the  man  who,  elected  to  the  highest 
post  of  honor  in  this  Republic,  died  bravely  in  the 
discharge  of  the  trusts  committed  to  his  hands. 

WILLIAM  RALSTON  BALCII. 

PHILADELPHIA,  the  Fall  of  1SS1. 


I  will  pick  up  a  few  straics  here  and  there  over  the  broad 
field  and  will  ask  you  a  few  moments  to  look  at  them. 

Garfield  at  Cleveland,  October  11,  1879. 


MEMOIR. 


To  tell  the  story  of  James  Abram  Garfield's  life 
is  to  recite  the  trials  and  triumphs  of  the  last 
twenty  years  of  American  history,  so  intimately 
was  his  life  twined  with  that  of  the  nation.  Such 
a  story  will  not  be  attempted  here.  Instead,  will 
be  given  a  few  notes,  which  will  recall  to  readers 
the  series  of  grand  influences  that  encircled  him 
and  which  had  so .  much  to  do  with  shaping  his 
brave  words. 

He  was  born  at  Orange,  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio, 
on  November  9,  1831,  and  had  the  advantage  in 
his  veins  of  a  sound  strain  of  blood.  Abram  Gar- 
field,  his  father,  was  of  Welsh  descent,  an  ancestor, 
Edward  Garfield,  having  renounced  his  home  in 
Chester  (Wales),  to  join  great  Governor  Win- 
throp's  Company  in  their  search  for  land  and  living 
in  the  New  World.  The  name  Garfield  —  it  is  to 
be  found  to-day  in  Wales  under  the  earlier  form  of 
Gaerfili,  and  in  Massachusetts  as  Gaerfield  —  means, 
in  Anglo-Saxon,  "  field- watch."  Edward  Garfield 
settled  at  Watertown,  Massachusetts,  where  he  and 
some  of  his  descendants  are  buried.  One  of  these, 


8  MEMOIR. 


Gr.rncld,  ^as  the  father  of  Abram  Gar- 
field  und  tl.»e  griii'lfrtiier  of  James  Abram.  Abram 
wac  iu:ntd  for  an  uncle  Abram,  who  was  among  the 
foremost  to  rep'ilse  the  British  assault  on  Concord 
Bridge.  After  the  assault,  he  joined  Judge  Hoar 
in  drawing  up  a  deposition  for  use  by  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  in  proving  that  the  British  govern 
ment  was  the  aggressor  and  began  the  war  which 
resulted  in  our  independence.  Abram  Garfield's 
wife,  the  mother  of  the  President,  bore  the  historic 
name  of  Ballon  and  was  the  sixth  in  descent  from 
Maturin  Ballon,  who  fled  to  this  country  on  the 
revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  and  found  refuge 
in'  Rhode  Island.  Eliza  Ballou,  for  such  was  her 
name,  was  married  in  1819.  All  the  best  years  of 
her  life  were  passed  in  the  wilderness,  framed  in 
the  narrow  boundaries  of  border  civilization.  Her 
husband  died  in  1833,  and  left  upon  her  hands  the 
raising  of  four  children  and  the  maintaining  the 
fight  for  existence  which  from  the  first  had  been  bit 
ter.  She  bent  herself  bravely  to  the  ta?k,  and  her 
determination,  patience,  and  perseverance  were  the 
first  lessons  of  life  James  Garfield  ever  had.  In 
the  poverty  and  privation  of  life  at  the  little  home 
stead  he  fully  shared.  As  soon  as  he  felt  him 
self  able  he  struck  for  independence,  and  took  the 
position  of  a  driver  on  the  canal  boat  Evening  Star. 
From  his  career  on  the  canal  the  ague  cut  him  off. 
At  the  usual  age  he  entered  the  district  school. 
Here  he  easily  stood  at  the  head  of  his  class,  and  by 


MEMOIR.  0 

the  time  he  was  eighteen,  he  was  possessed  of  all 
the  school  could  teach  him.  He  next  attended  for 
three  terms  the  Geauga  Seminary  at  Chester,  Ohio. 
While  studying  there  he  paid  his  way  with  the 
earnings  of  carpentering,  at  which  lie  worked  early 
and  late,  and  successfully.  In  1851  he  entered  the 
Eclectic  Institute,  now  Hiram  College,  at  Hiram, 
Ohio,  where  he  prepared  for  college.  A  kind  word 
from  the  then  President,  Mark  Hopkins,  fixed  Gar- 
field's  choice  upon  Williams  College,  at  Williams- 
town,  Massachusetts,  and  from  there  he  graduated 
with  the  highest  honors  of  his  class  in  1856.  In 
seven  years  he  had  covered  all  the  ground  that  lay 
between  an  old-fashioned  district  school  and  a  high- 
class  New  England  College.  He  had  accomplished 
even  more,  lie  had  taught  school,  he  had  worked 
at  his  carpenter's  trade,  and  for  two  years  while 
carrying  on  his  studies  at  Hiram,  he  had  occupied 
worthily  a  teacher's  position.  In  all  this  learning 
and  teaching  he  was  eminently  successful.  Fate, 
it  seemed,  was  shaping  his  life  in  the  pitiless  lines 
of  a  public  educator. 

On  his  return  to  Hiram  from  Williams,  he  was 
made  instructor  in  Ancient  Languages,  a  post  he 
was  not  allows!  to  occupy  long,  as  in  less  than  a 
year  he  was  chosen  principal.  lie  proved  himself 
an  educator  of  strong  power  and  popularity.  In 
1858  he  was  married  to  Lucretia  Rudolph,  the 
grand-niece  of  Michel,  Duke  of  Elchingen,  Marshal 
Ney.  About  this  time  he  began  to  think  of  useful- 


10  MEMO  JR. 

ness  in  another  field,  that  of  the  law.  The  break 
ing  out  of  the  civil  war  stopped  progress  in  this 
direction,  and  swept  him  away  to  the  front  as  lieu 
tenant-colonel  of  the  42d  Ohio  Volunteers.  His 
first  operations  in  the  fall  of  1SG1,  on  being  pro 
moted  to  the  colonelcy,  were  directed  against  Gen 
eral  Humphrey  Marshall,  then  occupying  the  Big 
Sandy  Valley  of  Kentucky.  For  this  and  other 
able  operations  he  was  made  a  brigadier-general  on 
January  10,  1862.  Subsequently  he  commanded  a 
brigade  at  Shiloh,  was  chosen  chief  of  staff  by 
Rosecrans,  and  was  with  George  II.  Thomas  dur 
ing  the  awful  struggle  at  Chickamauga.  For  his 
'-gallant  and  meritorious  service  "  on  this  occasion 
he  was  made  a  major-general. 

Quite  early  Garfield  manifested  an  interest  in 
politics.  He  attended  his  first  political  meeting 
during  the  Harrison  campaign,  though  appearing 
more  as  a  spectator  than  a  participant.  The  Kan 
sas-Nebraska  difficulty  was  probably  the  first  politi 
cal  question  in  which  he  interested  himself,  and  his 
political  career  opened  actively  in  1857,  when  he 
took  the  stump,  and  did  effective  service  for  his 
party.  Two  years  later  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Ohio  Senate,  taking  his  seat  from  Portage 
and  Summit  counties,  his  strong  anti-slavery  views 
having  proved  the  credentials  of  his  election.  This 
honor  he  resigned  on  accepting  a  regiment.  While 
at  the  front,  in  18G2,  his  friends  at  home  chose  him 
to  represent  the  10th  Ohio  Congressional  District, 


MEMOIR.  11 

so  long  spoken  for  by  honest,  able  Joshua  R.  G id- 
dings.  By  the  advice  of  President  Lincoln  and 
General  Rosecrans,  he  accepted  the  honor  and  took 
his  seat  —  the  youngest  member  of  Congress  —  on 
December  5,  1863,  resigning  from  the  army  on  the 
same  day.  To  this  body  he  was  nine  times  succes 
sively  elected,  remaining  a  member  until  the  close 
of  the  first  session  of  the  Forty-Sixth  Congress,  in 
the  early  Bummer  of  1880.  In  January  of  that 
year  he  was  chosen  by  the  legislature  of  Ohio,  to 
succeed  Allen  G.  Thurman  for  the  six  years  end 
ing  March  4,  1887.  On  June  10th  following  he 
received  at  Chicago,  at  the  hands  of  the  National 
Republican  Convention,  —  of  which  he  was  a  mem 
ber, —  the  nomination  to  the  Presidency.  Novem 
ber  2d  lie  was  elected  ;  March  4,  1881,  he  was  in 
augurated  ;  July  '2d  he  was  struck  down  by  a  cow 
ardly  assassin,  and  on  September  19th,  at  Elberon, 
New  Jersey,  he  died,  the  regretted  of  the  world. 

His  political  career  was  one  unbroken  service  to 
his  country.  He  never  made  a  speech  that  was 
not  noticeable  for  honesty  of  purpose,  earnestness 
of  vision,  soundness  of  judgment,  unimpeachable 
logic,  and  overwhelming  evidence,  while  framed  in 
beautiful  words,  and  animated  by  complete  charity 
and  manly  courtesy.  Among  his  associates  during 
his  term  in  Congress,  William  Pitt  Fessenden,  Lot 
M.  Morrill,  John  P.  Hale  of  New  Hampshire, 
Hannibal  Ilamlin,  Charles  Sumi^r  and  Henry  Wil 
son,  Oliver  P.  Morton,  Anthony,  Reverdy  Johnson, 


TlJ  MEMOIR. 

bluff  Ben  Wade,  John  Sherman,  Chandler,  Blaine, 
Hill,  Conkling,  Logan,  and  others  were  members  of 
the  Senate,  while  in  the  House  were  E.  B.  Wash- 
burne,  "  the  watch-dog  of  the  Treasury  ;  "  Thaddeus 
Stevens,  Schenck,  Boutwell,  Fenton,  Henry  Win 
ter  Davis,  Allison,  Kasson,  of  Iowa,  Dawes,  John 
A.  Bingham,  English  of  Connecticut,  Pendleton  of 
Ohio,  Randall,  George  W.  Julian,  Fernando  Wood, 
Judge  Kelley,  Frye,  Hale,  Hoar,  Blair  of  IS'ew 
Hampshire,  and  many  another  man  of  brains.  And 
yet  no  one  of  these  can  show  so  bright  a  page  of 
service  to  the  country  as  James  A.  Garfield.  No 
one  of  these  stamped  his  own  likeness  so  deeply 
upon  the  Mosaic  of  national  legislation  of  the  past 
twenty  years.  During  that  period  hardly  one  great 
measure  of  national  importance  was  passed  without 
the  impress  of  the  Garfield  medallion.  His  ser 
vice  on  most  of  the  very  important  committees  was 
continuous  and  untiring.  He  was  either  father  or 
god-father  to  every  sound  financial  measure  oriin- 

O  »  O 

nating  during  his  career  in  Congress.  He  was  the 
determined  enemy  of  all  forms  of  inflation,  repudia 
tion,  and  payment  of  just  debts  by  jugglery.  Slavery 
found  in  him  a  foe  of  magnificent  proportions,  the 
black  man  a  friend  of  great  value.  Freedom  and 
the  inviolability  of  the  Constitution  were  with  him 
every-day  texts.  The  doctrine  of  State  sovereignty 
he  attacked  with  bitter  vehemence  whenever  it 
showed  its  head.  The  broadening  of  the  scope 
and  effect  of  education  was  a  cherished  hobby  of 


MEMOIR.  13 

liis,  which  he  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  riding 
to  advantage.  Protection  was  upheld,  believed  in, 
and  defended.  The  sacredness  of  the  public  faith 
was  a  grand  gospel.  While  believing  that  the 
South  was  '-forever  and  forever  wrong"  on  the 
great  question  that  tore  the  nation  in  two,  yet  no 
Northern  man  forgave  more  quickly  or  more  fully 
than  he.  He  had  no  sympathy  with  the  "  blo-'dy- 
shirt  "  antics  of  his  party,  and  did  what  he  could  to 
condemn  them.  He  never  for  an  instant  lost  sisrht 

O 

of  his  country,  its  honor,  its  welfare,  or  its  citizens, 
and  he  never  advanced  any  but  enlightened  and 
progressive  principles.  A  profound  student  of 
statesmanship,  he  easily  became  the  leader  of  the 
House,  no  less  than  the  leader  of  his  party.  Bril 
liant  in  debate  and  oration,  no  member  ever  sur 
passed  him  in  speech  and  argument,  that  are  as 
well  worth  reading  to-day  as  on  the  day  of  their 
delivery.  Though  a  man  of  intense  convictions, 
stating  them  in  thunders  of  impassioned  words, 
never  was  a  political  debater  more  courteous  to  his 
opponent,  more  mindful  of  the  amenities  of  the 
forum,  more  generous  in  construing  the  utterances 
of  those  who  differed  with  him.  In  marshaling 
evidence  against  the  Democratic  policy  upon  any 
measure,  he  would  always  quote  from  Democratic- 
papers  or  Democratic  orators,  very  seldom  from 
the  press  and  politicians  of  his  own  party.  Pre 
eminently  a  constructive  statesman,  lie  endowed  his 
speeches  with  a  practical  quality  that  made  them 


14  MEMOIR. 

immediately  available  for  the  principles  and  meth 
ods  under  discussion  ;  arid  this,  too,  when  the  amount 
of  work  that  he  accomplished  was  almost  incredi 
ble.  Besides  serving  on  the  Military  Committee 
—  then  the  most  important  and  the  busiest  of  all 
committees  —  of  the  House  during  the  thirty-eighth 
Congress,  1863-65,  he  delivered  speeches  on  the 
following:  "Deficiency  bill,"  "Bill  to  continue 
bounties,"  "  Revenue  bill,"  "  Confiscation,"  "  Con 
scription  bill,"  "  Bill  to  revive  grade  of  Lieutenant- 
General, "  "  Resolution  of  thanks  to  General 
Thomas,"  "  Sale  of  surplus  gold,"  "  Relating  to 
enlistments  in  the  Southern  States,"  "  Bill  to  drop 
unemployed  general  officers,"  "  New  Jersey  rail 
road  bill,"  "  Currency  bill,"  "  The  state  of  the 
Union,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Long,"  "The  expulsion  of 
Mr.  Long,"  "  A  correspondence  with  the  Rebels," 
"  Revenue  bill  (No.  405),"  "  The  inquiry  in  rela 
tion  to  the  Treasury  Department,"  "  The  Army 
appropriation  bill,"  "  Pennsylvania  war  claims," 
"  -The  bankrupt  bill,"  "  Repeal  of  fugitive  slave 
law,"  "  Bill  to  provide  for  claims  for  rebellion 
losses."  And  no  one  of  these  but  what  was  most 
carefully  and  fully  prepared.  And  from  this  be 
ginning  the  stream  of  his  activity  widened  into  a 
vast  sea. 

As  a  lawyer  his  career  was  not  so  brilliant,  but  if 
we  may  accept  the  suggestion  of  the  cases  that  he 
argued,  it  was  because  his  political  duties  left  him 
but  little  time  for  the  law.  And  this  is  still  more 


MEMOIR.  15 

patent  wlicn  it  is  recollected  that,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  18G8  and  1880,  he  bore  a  conspicuous  part 
in  the  yearly  political  canvass  on  the  stump.  Ohio, 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
and  Missouri,  record  with  gratitude  his  powers  in 
a  canvass.  He  was  the  most  serious  and  the  most 
instructive  man  on  the  stump  in  the  Republic.  As 
a  lawyer  he  was  logical,  clear,  careful,  never  slight 
ing  anything  or  anybody,  and  always  confirmed  in 
the  justice  of  his  cause. 

His  scholar's  career,  his  literary  activity,  his 
style,  the  training  and  habits  of  his  mind  are,  per 
haps,  at  this  moment  of  the  greatest  interest.  The 
growth  of  his  intellect  began  with  the  unsurpassed 
English  of  the  Bible,  much  of  which  he  learned 
at  his  mother's  knee.  This  was  the  grounding  of 
that  upright  Christian  career  which  he  so  earnestly 
entered  upon  and  so  fearlessly  followed,  of  that 
profound  reverence  for  Christian  teachings,  which 
was  afterwards  strengthened  and  confirmed  by  his 
preaching  in  the  pulpits  of  his  sect.  The  next 
mental  development  was  his  love  of  freedom  and 
his  ambition  to  be  something  in  the  world,  brought 
out  by  the  bristling  pages  of  "  The  Pirate's  Own 
Book,"  Weems's  "  Marion,"  border  histories,  and 
Grimshaw's  u  Napoleon,"  which  also  stirred  his 
soldier's  spirit,  volumes  that  over  and  over  again 
aroused  his  ready  enthusiasm.  To  these  succeeded 
the  dry  sentences  of  Kirkham's  Grammar,  then, 


16  MEMOIR. 

book-keeping,  penmanship,  and  elocution.  The 
next  refining  influences  upon  his  mind  were  the 
able  ministrations  of  his  teacher  at  Hiram,  Miss 
Almeda  A.  Booth,  the  Margaret  Fuller  of  the  West. 
Xenophon's  "Anabasis,"  the  Pastorals  of  Virgil, 
the  Georgics  and  Bucolics  entire,  Demosthenes  on 
the  Crown,  and  the  first  six  books  of  Homer,  ac 
companied  by  a  thorough  drill  in  Latin  and  Greek 
grammar,  preceded  his  entrance  at  college.  In 
these  studies  he  was  very  thorough,  at  all  times 
examining  and  perusing  collateral  works  to  the 
particular  text  book  upon  which  he  was  engaged. 

On  his  arrival  at  Williamstown  he  found  a  great 
prize,  —  a  good  library.  His  absorption  in  the  double 
work  of  teaching  and  fitting  himself  for  college, 
had  hitherto  left  him  little  time  for  general  reading, 
and  the  library  opened  a  new  world  of  profit  and 
delight.  He  had  never  read  a  line  of  Shakespeare, 
save  a  few  extracts  in  the  school-readers.  From 
the  whole  range  of  fiction  he  had  voluntarily  shut 
himself  off  at  eighteen,  when  he  joined  the  church, 
having  serious  views  of  the  business  of  life  and  im 
bibing  the  notion — then  almost  universal  among 
religious  people  in  the  country  districts  of  the 
West  —  that  novel-reading  was  a  waste  of  time, 
and  therefore  a  simple,  worldly  sort  of  intellectual 
amusement.  Turned  loose  in  the  college  library, 
lie  began  \\ith  Sliakespea:e,  which  he  devoured 
u  with  the  divine  hunger  of  irenius  "  from  cover 

O  O 

to  cover.     Then  he  went  to  English  history  and  to 


MEMOIR.  17 

the  English  poets.  Tennyson  pleased  him  best.  In 
Charles  Kingsley's  "  Alton  Locke  "  and  "  Yeast  "  he 
found  congenial  spirits.  Longfellow's  "  Hiawatha  " 
produced  a  lasting  impression.  At  the  end  of  six 
months  this  serious  reading  produced  intellectual 
dyspepsia,  his  mind  could  not  assimilate  the  food 
fed  to  it,  it  refused  to  be  bound  down  to  the  printed 
page.  He  therefore  revised  his  notions  of  fiction, 
and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  romance  is  as 
valuable  a  part  of  a  mental  repast  as  salad  of  a 
dinner.  In  consequence  he  prescribed  for  himself 
one  novel  a  month,  and  on  this  medicine  his  mind 
speedily  recovered  its  elasticity.  Cooper's  "  Leather- 
stocking  Tales "  were  the  first  novels  he  read, 
after  these  Sir  Walter  Scott.  Then  an  English 
classmate  introduced  him  to  Dickens  and  Thack 
eray,  and  he  roared  with  laughter  over  Mr.  Bum 
ble.  During  this  course  of  reading  he  made  notes 
of  everything  he  did  not  clearly  understand,  sucl* 
as  historical  references,  mythological  allusions, 
technical  terms,  etc.  These  notes  he  would  take 
time  to  look  up  afterward,  in  the  library,  so  as  to 
leave  nothing  obscure  concerning  the  books  he  ab 
sorbed.  The  ground  his  mind  traversed  he  care 
fully  cleared  and  plowed  before  leaving  it  for  fresh 
fields. 

Garfield  studied  Latin  and  Greek,  and  took  up 
German  as  an  elective  study.    One  year  completed 
his  classical  studies.     German  he  carried  on  suc 
cessfully,  until  he  could  read  Goethe  and  Schiller 
2 


18  MEMOIR. 

readily  and  acquired  considerable  fluency  in  the 
conversational  use  of  that  language.  The  influ 
ence  of  the  mind  and  character  of  Dr.  Hopkins 
was  seriously  felt  in  shaping  the  direction  of 
his  thoughts  and  views  of  life.  He  repeatedly 
said  that  the  good  president  rose  like  a  sun  before 
him  and  enlightened  his  whole  mental  and  moral 
nature.  His  preaching  and  teaching  were  a  con 
stant  inspiration  of  the  young  Ohio  student,  and  he 
became  the  centre  of  his  college  life,  the  object  of 
his  hero  worship.  In  all  the  college  literary  work 
Garfield  joined  enthusiastically.  He  was  a  mem 
ber,  and  one  year,  1855-6,  president  of  the  Philolo- 
gian  Society.  He  contributed  constantly  to  "  The 
Williams  Quarterly."  This  gave  him  an  advan 
tageous  journalistic  experience  and  brought  him 
into  closer  relations  with  the  men  around  him. 
One  year  Garfield  formed  one  of  the  corps  of  edi 
tors,  and  during  this  connection  with  it  he  numbered 
among  his  contributors  Professor  Ghadbourne,  Hor 
ace  E.  Sciuliler,  G.  B.  Manly,  S.  G.  W.  Benjamin, 
J.  Gilfillan,  W.  I\.  Dimmock,  John  Savery.  ami 
W.  S.  Hopkins,  some  of  whom  survive  to-day  to  a 
more  distinguished  fame  than  the  pages  of  "  The 
Williams  Quarterly." 

Garfield  graduated  with  the  class  honor  in  met 
aphysics,  reading  an  essay  on  ''Matter  and  Spirit, 
the  Seen  and  Unseen."  It  is  singular  how  at  dif 
ferent  times  in  the  course  of  his  education,  he  was 
thought  to  have  a  special  aptitude  for  some  partic- 


MEMOIR.  19 

ular  line  of  mental  work,  and  how  at  another  period 
his  talents  were  as  pronounced  in  some  other  line. 
First  it  was  mathematics,  then  classics,  then  rhet 
oric,  and  finally  metaphysics.  The  reason  of  all  this 
lay  in  his  remarkably  vigorous  and  well-rounded 
brain,  capable  of  effective  work  in  any  direction. 
His  studies  had  breadth.  He  was  always  busy,  yet 
never  a  recluse  or  bookish  fellow.  His  studies 
were  also  noticeable  for  their  evenness.  He  had 
large  capacity  and  extreme  diligence,  and  he  applied 
both  to  any  subject  that  he  undertook.  What  he 
did  was  accomplished  by  hard  work.  There  was 
nothing  spasmodic,  but  ever  a  steady,  healthy,  on 
ward,  upward  progress.  This  judgment  on  his  life 
then,  has  been  equally  applicable  at  all  times  since. 

His  intense  love  of  books  never  left  him.  All 
through  his  congressional  career  we  catch  glimpses 
of  his  literary  life,  his  turning  aside,  lest  his  great 
dread  should  be  accomplished  of  "falling  into  a  rut 
and  becoming  a  fossil."  Though  he  might  not 
have  admitted  it,  there  was  little  danger  of  such  a 
relapse.  In  a  letter  to  an  intimate  friend,  he  says, 
under  date  of  July  8,  1875  :  "I  am  taking  advan 
tage  of  this  enforced  leisure  to  do  a  good  deal  of 
reading.  Since  I  was  taken  sick  I  have  read  the 
following  :  Sherman's  two  volumes  ;  Leland's  *  Eng 
lish  Gypsies; '  George  Borrow's  'Gypsies  of  Spain;' 
Borrow's  '  Rommany  Rye  ; '  Tennyson's  '  Mary  ; ' 
seven  volumes  of  Froude's  England;  several  plays 
of  Shakespeare,  aiid  have  made  some  progress  in  a 


20  MEMOIR 

new  book,  which  I  think  you  will  be  glad  to  see, 
4  The  History  of  the  English  People,'  by  Professor 
Green,  of  Oxford,  in  one  volume." 

His  interest  in  books  was  always  fresh  and  vigor 
ous.  Brief  verdicts  on  much  of  his  reading  are  re 
corded  in  his  correspondence.  The  "  Shakespeare 
Tales  "  by  Charles  and  Mary  Lamb  afforded  him 
a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  Walter  Savage  Laudor's 
"  Pericles  and  Aspasia  "  he  found  to  be  one  of  the 
finest  things  he  ever  read,  furnishing  as  it  does  in  a 
vivid  and  beautiful  style  "  the  best  obtainable  sum 
mary  of  the  spirit  and  character  of  Greek  history, 
politics,  philosophy,  and  literature."  Reclus's  u  Phys 
ical  Geography  "  he  deemed  a  remarkable  book,  and 
"  Ten  Great  Religions,"  by  James  Freeman  Clarke, 
lie  read  several  times,  the  perusals  leading  him  to 
believe  ho  had  taken  too  narrow  a  view  of  tho  sub 
ject  of  religion.  During  the  winter  of  1874-75  he 
made  a  thorough  study  of  Goethe  and  his  epoch, 
and  sought  to  build  up  in  his  mind  a  picture  of  the 
state  of  literature  and  art  in  Europe  at  the  period 
when  Goethe  began  to  work,  and  the  state  of  the 
same  when  he  died.  After  grouping  the  facts  in 
order,  he  wrote  out  a  sketch,  as  was  his  custom  in 
regard  to  his  reading,  of  the  impressions  produced 
upon  his  mind.  It  was  this  sort  of  work  that  per 
mitted  his  literary  growth  to  keep  pace  with  his 
political  power,  and  made  him  eventually  the  scholar 
of  the  White  House.  I  will  venture  on  the  read 
er's  patience,  a  private  letter  which  will  still  further 


MEMOIR.  21 

illustrate  how  consistently  President  Garfield  kept 
pace  with  himself.  It  touches  on  his  great  interest 
in  Horace. 

"  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  16,  1871. 

"  DEAR  PROFESSOR  :  Before  I  am  wholly  over 
whelmed  with  the  very  arduous  and  long-continue'"! 
work  which  this  winter's  session  will  impose  upon 
me,  I  will  take  the  time  to  write  you  a  long,  and 
I  hope  not  au  uninteresting  letter  on  a  subject  to 
which  I  have  given  some  attention,  from  time  to 
time,  during  the  last  few  years. 

"Since  I  entered  public  life,  I  have  constantly 
aimed  to  find  a  littlo  time  to  keep  alive  the  spirit 
of  my  classical  studies,  and  to  resist  that  constant 
tendency,  which  all  public  men  feel,  to  grow  rusty 
in  literary  studies,  and  particularly  in  the  classical 
studies.  I  have  thought  it  better  to  select  some 
one  lino  of  classical  reading,  and,  if  possible,  do  a 
little  work  on  it  each  day.  For  this  winter,  I  am 
determined  to  review  such  parts  of  the  Odes  of 
Horace  as  I  may  be  able  to  reach.  And,  as  pre 
liminary  to  that  work,  I  have  begun  by  reading  up 
the  bibliography  of  Horace. 

"  The  Congressional  Library  is  very  rich  in  ma 
terials  for  this  study,  and  I  am  amazed  to  find  how 
deep  and  universal  has  been  the  impress  left  on 
the  cultivated  mind  of  the  world  by  Horace's  writ 
ings. 

"  In  a   French   volume  before  me,  entitled  '  Edi- 


22  MEMOIR. 

tion  Polyglotte,'  M.  Monfalcon.  Paris,  1834,  in 
which  the  Latin  text  and  translations  into  Span 
ish,  Italian,  French,  English,  and  German  are 
given,  I  find  a  catalogue  of  the  editions  of  Horace 
published  in  each  year  from  the  date  of  the  inven 
tion  of  printing  down  to  1833.  This  remarkable 
c  'talogue  of  editions  iills  seventy  quarto  columns  of 
Monfalcon's  book.  Besides  this  Polyglot  edition, 
there  are  lying  on  iny  table,  for  reference,  t\vo 
thick  volumes  made  up  wholly  of  comments  on 
Horace  (the  body  of  the  text  being  wholly  omitted), 
by  Lambin,  a  great  French  scholar,  who  lived  two 
hundred  years  ago;  also  two  thick  volumes  by 
Orelli,  the  Swiss  scholar,  who  djed  in  1850  ;  also 
three  volumes  of  the  Dolphin  Horace,  edited  by 
Valpy,  the  English  scholar.  These  form  but  a 
small  part  of  the  stores  of  iloratian  literature  which 
our  library  contains  ;  but  these  facts  refer  rather 
to  the  bibliography  of  Horace,  and  arc  aside  from 
the  particular  point  I  have  in  view  in  this  letter. 

"  I  have  observed,  in  looking  over  the  works  on 
Horace,  that  a  line  of  thought  has  been  pursued  by 
scholars  and  antiquarians  quite  analogous  to  that 
pursued  by  scientific  men  in  forecasting  —  I  might 
almost  say  discovering — facts  by  induction  from 
general  principles.  Let  me  illustrate  this.  You 
remember  the  familiar  illustration  of  it  in  the  case 
of  Lcverrier,  who  found  a  perturbation  in  the 
movements  of  some  of  the  planets  of  the  solar  sys 
tem,  and,  after  having  established  the  character 


MEMOIR.  23 

and  extent  of  that  perturbation,  declared  that  there 
must  be  an  unknown  planet  of  a  certain  size  in  a 
certain  quarter  of  the  heavens,  whose  presence 
would  account  for  the  perturbation ;  and  finally, 
by  pointing  the  telescope  to  that  quarter  of  the 
heavens,  the  predicted  planet  was  found. 

**  A  recent  fact  may  afford  a  still  further  instruc 
tive  illustration  of  the  same  principle.  Two  weeks 
ago  to-day,  Professor  Agassiz,  on  the  eve  of  de 
parture  for  South  America  on  a  voyage  of  scientific 
discovery,  addressed  a  letter  to  Professor  Peirce,  of 
the  United  States  Coast  Survey,  in  which  he  pre 
dicts  with  great  particularity  what  classes  of  marine 
animals  lie  expects  to  find  in  the  deep-sea  sound 
ings  of  the  southern  hemisphere ;  what  disposition 
of  bowlders,  the  character  and  direction  of  glacial 
grooving.?,  he  expects  to  find  in  the  southern  conti 
nent.  The  Professor  has  so  fully  committed  him 
self  that  the  result  of  the  expedition  must  be  a 
great  triumph  or  a  great  failure  for  him. 

"  Now,  quite  analogous  to  these  researches  in  the 
field  of  science  has  been  the  process  by  which 
scholars  have  discovered  the  long-lost  location  of 
the  country  residence  of  Horace.  Its  site,  and  al 
most  its  existence,  were  forgotten  during  the  cen 
turies  of  darkness  which  the  Middle  Ages  brought 
upon  Europe  ;  and  it  was  only  after  the  revival  of 
learning  that  men  began  to  inquire  for  the  old 
shrines  and  homes  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Ko- 
mans.  For  a  long  time  the  site  of  the  country 


24  MEMOIR. 

home  of  Horace  was  merely  a  matter  of  conjecture, 
and  scores  of  theories  were  advanced  in  regard  to 
it.  I  have  now  before  me  the  work  which  was,  I 
believe,  the  first  thorough  and  elaborate  attempt  to 
apply  the  scientific  process  to  the  discovery  of  tho 
site  of  the  villa  of  Horace.  It  is  in  three  volumes, 
of  about  live  hundred  pages  each,  and  was  written 
at  Rome  in  17GG-G7  by  the  Abbe  Bertram!  Cap- 
martin  de  Chaupy,  a  French  ecclesiastic,  who  about 
that  time  spent  several  years  in  Rome,  and  subse 
quently,  at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution,  fled 
to  Italy,  partly  for  safety  and  partly  to  gratify  his 
love  of  classical  study. 

"I  have  run  hastily  over  these  volumes,  and  will 
give  you  a  brief  statement  of  the  scope  and  char 
acter  of  the  argument.  The  first  volume  lays  down 
the  method  by  which  we  should  proceed  in  finding 
the  location  of  the  Iloratian  villa.  In  following 
out  this  method,  he  brings  together  all  the  refer 
ences  made  to  it,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  works 
of  Horace,  and  many  other  similar  references  from 
many  other  contemporary  authorities  and  authors 
of  the  next  succeeding  period.  From  these  ele 
ments  he  sets  forth  in  genera!  terms  the  features 
that  any  proposed  site  must  possess  in  order  to  be 
trusted  as  the  real  place. 

"  In  his  second  volume  he  applies  the  results  of 
the  first  volume  to  all  the  localities  that  have  been 
proposed  as  the  site,  and  reaches  the  conclusion 
that  none  of  them  will  stand  the  test. 


MEMOIR.  25 

"In  the  third  volume  he  (races  the  history  of  the 
changes  that  swept  over  the  country  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Rome,  the  devastations  and  rebuildings, 
tho  decays  and  reconstruction  of  cities  and  villas, 
and  finally  directs  all  his  tests  to  one  point,  which 
he  affirms,  a  priori,  must  he  the  very  location. 

"  This  investigation  leads  him  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  country  home  of  Horace  was  situated 
among  the  Sabine  Mountains,  a  few  miles  above 
Tivoli,  upon  the  little  river  Digence,  between  the 
mountains  Lucretilc  and  Ustica  on  one  side  and  the 
village  of  Mantel  hi  on  the  other,  and  not,  far  from 
Varia,  which  was  a  little  village  on  the  Anio,  and 
is  now  the  hamlet  of  Vario. 

'•  Such  were  the  conclusions  drawn  by  the  Abh6 
from  his  elaborate  investigation.  Subsequent  ex 
plorations  have,  I  believe,  in  the  main  confirmed 
the  correctness  of  his  conclusions. 

"  In  a  London  edition  of  Horace,  of  1840,  by  the 
Rev.  Henry  Hart  Milman,  there  is  printed  a  letter 
by  G.  Dennis,  written,  as  its  author  believes,  near 
tli3  very  spot  where  Horace  wrote  most  of  his  od.-s. 
The  letter  is  a  most  charming  one,  full  of  enthusi 
asm  for  the  poet  and  his  works,  and  gives  a  delight 
ful  description  of  the  country  and  its  surroundings. 

"  Did  I  not  know  that  I  lack  the  time  and  you  tho 
patience,  I  should  be  tempted  to  send  the  whole 
letter  ;  but,  when  you  visit  us  in  Washington,  as  I 
hope  you  will  do  some  time,  you  must  not  fail  to 
read  it.  I  hope  I  may  not  have  distressed  you  with 
the  lenirth  of  this  letter. 


26  MEMOIR. 

"  My  children  are  nearly  recovered  from  scarlet 
fever.     All  the  family  are  now  well,  and  join  me 
in  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Demmon  and  yourself. 
"  Very  truly  yours, 

k>  J.  A.  GAHFIELD. 

"Professor  I.  X.  DEMMON,  Hiram, 
Portage  County,  Ohio.'' 

Such  constant  study  had  naturally  a  strong  influ 
ence  on  his  utterances,  an  influence  unquestionably 
good.  These  utterances  are  never  dry.  You  can 
not  read  a  dozen  sentences  anywhere,  not  even  in 
his  annual  "  bud net  "  speeches,  and  not  find  somo 
profound  idea  that  is  all  human  in  its  interest.  His 
animal  spirits,  his  extreme  cheerfulness,  his  gentle 
ness  and  courtesy,  threw  an  indescribable  charm  into 
his  speeches,  and  won  him  a  more  patient  hearing 
than  was  accorded  his  brother  Congressmen.  When 
he  rose  talking  ceased,  as  in  days  before  the  war, 
when  Peyton  or  Wise  asked  the  time  und  atten 
tion  of  the  House.  He  possessed  boldness  of 
imagery,  picturesqueness  of  illustration,  logical 
analysis,  unbounded  patriotism  developed  by  his 
tory  and  the  hard  facts  of  1861,  large  powers  of 
observation,  poetry,  respect  for  men,  an  ardent 
admiration  for  the  Union  and  the  Constitution, 
and  a  supreme  faith  in  his  Creator.  The  char 
acter  of  his  utterances  is  largely  prophetic ;  what 
he  said  of  others  almost  invariably  applies  with 
greater  force  to  himself.  In  delivery  he  was  sym 
pathetic  and  powerful,  and  never  failed  to  win  the 


MEMOIR.  27 

respect  and  applause  of  bis  audience.  He  never 
delivered  a  bad  speech  or  a  dull  one ;  it  is  doubtful 
if  be  knew  how.  He  leaves  no  one  behind  him  in 
our  halls  of  legislation  who  is  completely  worthy  to 
lift  the  mantle  he  has  relinquished.  In  the  history 
of  the  American  Congress,  Garfield's  character  and 
ability  are  unique. 

His  death  was  the  completed  majesty  of  his  life, 
—  a  death  that  has  redounded  to  the  welfare  of  the 
American  nation,  that  prompts  a  broader  charity, 
a  greater  love,  a  profounder  faith  among  all  classes 
of  Americans.  The  President  was  more  to  us  in 
dying  than  in  living.  He  has  harmonized  and 
united  the  American  people  far  b»  tier  than  the 
most  brilliant  administration  could  have  done  ;  he 
has  forced  us  to  forget,  as  of  old  he  ever  strove  to 
do,  our  pettiness  and  our  selfishness  in  the  common 
outburst  of  a  great  emotion.  So.  cheerfully  and 
well,  he  served  us  to  the  end,  bravely,  manfully, 
uncomplainingly  taking  his  part  in 

•     "The  direst  tragedy  that  ever  challenged  wonder." 


GARFIELD'S   WORDS. 


PART   L  — MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS. 

The  selections  that  follow  under  this  head  relate  to  a  variety 
of  subjects,  in  the  main,  other  than  of  purely  patriotic  or  political 
import. 


GAIIFIELD'S  CREED. 
Its  Corner  Stone. 

1.  I  would  rather  be  beaten  in  Right  than 
succeed  in  Wrong. 

A  Principle. 

2.  There  are  some  things  I  am  afraid  of, 
and  I  confess  it  in  this  great  presence :  I  am 
afraid  to  do  a  mean  thing. 

Speech  at  Cleveland,  Oct.  11,  1379. 
Reverence  for  Boys. 

3.  I  feel  a  profounder  reverence  for  a  boy 
than  for  a  man.     I  never  meet  a  ragged  boy 
in  the  street  without  feeling  that  I  may  owe 


30  GARnr.LD'S  WORDS. 

him  a  salute,  for  I  know  not  what  possibili 
ties  may  be  buttoned  up  under  his  coat. 

The  Shriveled  Time  of  Life. 

4.  You  an- 1   I   are  now  nearly  in  middle 
age,   and    have   not   yet   become   soured    and 
shriveled  with  the  wear  and  tear  of  life.     Let 
us  pray  to  be  delivered  from  that  condition 
where  life  and  nature  have  no  fresh,  sweet 
sensations  for  us. 

Private  Letter  to  Mr.  Hinsdale,  Dec.  31, 1872. 
Uprightness. 

5.  It  is  not  enough  for  one  to  know  that 
his   heart   and  motives   have  been   pure   and 
true,  if  he  is  not  sure  but  that  good  men  here 
and  there,  who  do  not  know  him,  will  set  him 
down  among  the  lowest  men  of  doubtful  mo 
rality.  Hid. 

Garfield's  Effort  in  Public  Life. 

6.  I    have    always    said    that    my   whole 
public   life  was  an   experiment  to  determine 
whether  an  intelligent  people  would  sustain 
a  man  in  acting  sensibly  on  each  proposition 
that  arose,   and   in   doing    nothing  for   mere 
show  or  for  demagogical  effect.     I  do  not  now 
remember  that  I  ever  cast  a  vote  of  that  lat 
ter  SOrt.  Private  Letter,  April  4,  1873. 


GARFIELD'S   CREED.  31 

A  Radical,  not  n  Fool. 

7.  I  am  trying  to  do  two  things  :  dare  to 
be  a  radical  and  not  be  a  fool,  which,  if  I  may 
judge  by  the  exhibitions  around  me,  is  a  mat 
ter  of  no  small  difficulty. 

Private  Letter,  Jan.  1,  1SG7. 
A  Bulwark  of  Opposition. 

8.  I  am  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of 
standing  up  against  a  rabble  of  men  who  has 
ten  to  make  weather-cocks  of  themselves. 

Private  Letter,  Dec.  15,  18G7. 
The  Shores  of  Life. 

9.  Strolling  on  the  shore  of  life,  it  is  with 
reluctance  I  plunge  back  again  into  the  noisy 
haunts  of  men. 

Letter  to  A.  F.  Rockwell,  on  recisiting  Williams  College,  Aug.  1S66. 
Garfield's  Dread. 

10.  I    must   do  something   to   keep   my 
thoughts  fresh  and  growing.     I  dread  noth 
ing  so  much  as  falling  into  a  rut  and  feeling 
myself  becoming  a  fossil. 

Private  Letter,  July  11,  1S68. 
The  Fight  against  Gloom. 

11.  There  is  much  in  life  to  make  one  sad 
and  disheartened  ;   but  whether  we  maintain 
a   cheerful   spirit   or  not,  depends  largely  on 
the  way  in  which  we  view  the  events  and  out 
comes  of  life.      I   think  the    main    point   of 


32  GARFIELD'S    WORDS 

safety  is  to  look  upon  life  with  a  view  of  doing 
as  much  good  to  others  as  possible,  and,  as  far 
as  possible,  to  strip  ourselves  of  what  the 

French  Call   egoism.  Pri vate  Letter,  April  30,  1S74. 

Safety  from  Gloom. 

12.  The  worst  days  of  darkness  through 
which  I  have  ever  passed  have  been  greatly 
alleviated  by  throwing   myself    with   all   my 
energy  into   some   work   relating   to   others. 
Your  life  is  so  much  devoted  in  this  direction 
that  I  think  you  will  find  in  it  the  greatest 
safety  from  the  danger  of  gloom.  ibid. 

Garfield's  Model. 

13.  This  public  life  is  a  weary,  wearing 
one,  that  leaves  one  but  little  time  for  that 
quiet  reflection  which  is  so  necessary  to  keep 
up  a  growth  and  vigor  of  Christian  character. 
But  I  hope  I  have  lost  none  of  my  desire  to 
be  a  true  man,  and  keep  ever  before  me  the 
character  of  the  great  Nazarene. 

Letter  to  Dr.  Boynton. 
A  Christian's  Reply. 

14.  I  would  rather  be  defeated  than  make 
capital  out  of  my  religion. 

Remark  at  Chatauqua,  Aug.  8,  1880. 


HERE  AND   THERE.  33 

Wrinkles. 

15.  If  wrinkles  must  be  written  upon  our 
brows,  let  them  not  be  written  upon  the  heart. 
The  spirit  should  not  grow  old. 

Letter  to  Col.  Rockwell,  on  revisiting  Williams  College. 
Danger. 

16.  It  may  be  well  to  smile  in  the  face  of 
danger,  but  it   is   neither  well  nor   wise  to 
let  danger  approach  unchallenged  and  unan 
nounced. 

A  Good  Symbol. 

17.  Hope  rises  and  falls  by  the  accidents 
of  war,  as   the  mercury  of   the  thermometer 
changes  by  the  accidents  of  heat  and  cold. 
Let  us  rather  take  for  our  symbol  the  sailor's 
barometer,  which  faithfully  forewarns  him  of 
the  tempest,  and  gives  him  unerring  promise 
of  serene  skies  and  peaceful  seas. 

Communists. 

18.  Who  of  us  would  not  be  communists 
in  a  despotism  ? 

The  Shallowness  of  Words. 

19.  With  words,  we  make  promises,  plight 
faith,   praise   virtue.     Promises   may  not   be 
kept ;   plighted   faith   may   be   broken ;   and 


34  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

vaunted  virtue  maybe  only  the  cunning  mask 

Of  vice.  Decoration  Day  Oration,  1868. 

Sovereign  Power. 

20.  Wherever  you  find  sovereign   power, 
every  reverent  heart  on  this  earth  bows  be 
fore  it.  Reception  Speech,  Washington,  Nov.,  1880. 

Lying. 

21.  It  is  not  right  or  manly  to  lie,  even 

about  Satan.  Warren,  O.,  Sept.  19,  1874. 

Governments  and  Man. 

22.  Governments,  in    general,  look  upon 
man  only  as  a  citizen,  a  fraction  of  the  state. 
God  looks  upon  him  as  an  individual  man, 
with  capacities,  duties,  and  a  destiny  of  his 
own;  and  just  in  proportion  as  a  government 
recognizes  the  individual  and  shields  him  in 
the  exercises  of  his  rights,  in  that  proportion 
is  it  Godlike  and  glorious. 

Ravenna,  O.,  July  4, 1860. 
The  Treatment  of  Crime. 

23.  It  is  cheaper  to  reduce  crime  than  to 

build  jails.  House  of  Representatives,  June  8,  1866. 

The  Mandate  of  Christianity. 

24.  Christianity    bids    us    seek,    in    com 
munion  with  our  brethren  of  every  race  and 
clime,  the  blessings  they  can  afford  us,  and  to 


HERE   AND   THERE.  35 

bestow  in  return  upon  them  those  with  which 
our  new  continent  is  destined  to  fill  the  world. 

House  of  Representatives,  April  1,  1870. 
The  Advantages  of  Communication. 

25.  Distance,  estrangement,  isolation,  have 
been  overcome  by  the  recent  amazing  growth 
in    the    means    of    intercommunication.     For 
political    and   industrial   purposes    California 
and   Massachusetts   are   nearer   neighbors   to 
day,  than  were  Philadelphia  and  Boston  in 
the  days  of  the  Revolution.     It  was  distance, 
isolation,    ignorance    of    separate   parts,   that 
broke  the  cohesive  force  of  the  great  empires 
of  antiquity. 

Address  before  the  Literary  Societies  of  Hudson  College. 
Intercourse. 

26.  We  cannot  if  we  would,  and  should 
not  if  we  could,  remain   isolated  and  alone. 
Men  under  the  benign  influence  of  Christian 
ity  yearn  for  intercourse,  for  the  interchange 
of  thought  and  the  products  of  thought  as  a 
means  of  a  common  progress  toward  a  nobler 
civilization.  ibid. 

The  Dead. 

27.  We  hold  reunions,  not  for  the  dead, 
for  there  is  nothing  in  all  the  earth  that  you 
and  I  can  do  for  the  dead.     They  are  past 


36  GARF1EL&S    WORDS. 

our  help  and  past  our  praise.  We  can  add  to 
them  no  glory,  we  can  give  to  them  no  im 
mortality.  They  do  not  need  us,  but  forever 
and  forever  more  we  need  them. 

Genera,  Aug.  3,  1880. 
The  Power  in  the  Speech. 

28.  No   man    can   make   a   speech   alone. 
It  is  the  great  human  power  that  strikes  up 
from  a  thousand  minds  that   acts  upon  him 
and  makes  the  speech. 

The  Doctrine  of  Chance. 

29.  Nothing  is  more  uncertain  than  the 
result  of   any  one  throw  ;    few  things   more 
certain  than  the  result  of  many  throws. 

The  Fools. 

30.  There  are  always  a  few  who  believe 
in  the  quadrature  of  the  circle  and  the  per 
petual    motion.      The   gods   of    Greece   were 
discrowned    and   disowned    by    the    civilized 
world  a  thousand  years  ago ;  and  yet  within 
the  last  generation  an  eminent  English  scholar 
attested  his  love  for   classical   learning,   and 
his  devotion  to  the  Greek  mythology,  by  act 
ually  sacrificing  a  bull  to  Jupiter  in  the  back- 
parlor  of  his  house  in  London. 


UERE  AND  THERE.  37 

Talent's  Substitute. 

31.  If  the  power  to  do  hard  work  is  not 
talent,  it  is  the  best  possible  substitute  for  it. 

The  Fruits  of  Occasion. 

32.  Occasion  may  be  the  bugle-call  that 
summons  an  army  to  battle,  but  the  blast  of 
a  bugle  can  never  make  soldiers  or  win  vic 
tories. 

Methods  of  Discovery. 

33.  Things  don't  turn   up  in  this  world 
until  somebody  turns  them  up. 

The  Fellowship  of  the  Virtues. 

34.  There  is  a  fellowship  among  the  vir 
tues  by   which   one   great,  generous    passion 
stimulates  another. 

The  Kingdom  of  Opinion. 

35.  In  the  minds  of  most  men  the  king 
dom  of  opinion  is  divided  into  three  territo 
ries  :    the  territory  of   yes,  the    territory  of 
no,  and  a  broad,  unexplored  middle  ground  of 

do  Lib  t.  House  of  Representatives,  Jan.  28, 1830. 

A  Mystery  of  Sorrow. 

36    It   is  one  of   the   precious  mysteries 


38  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

of    sorrow    that   it   finds   solace    in   unselfish 
thought. 

The  Deception  of  Calm. 

37.  Quiet  is  no  certain  pledge  of  perma 
nence   and  safety.     Trees  may  flourish    and 
flowers  may  bloom  upon  the  quiet  mountain 
side,  while    silently  the  trickling    rain-drops 
are  filling  the  deep  cavern  behind  its  rocky 
barriers,  which,  by  and  by,  in  a  single  mo 
ment,  shall  hurl  to  wild  ruin  its  treacherous 

peace.  Ravenna,  July  4,  1860. 

The  Laborer's  Commodity. 

38.  The  laborer  has  but  one  commodity 
to  sell,  — his  day's  work.     It  is  his  sole  reli 
ance.     He  must  sell  it  to-day,  or  it  is  lost  for 
ever.  House  of  Representatives,  Ftb.  24,  1S76. 

The  Desire  of  Men. 

39.  I    take    it    for    granted    that    every 
thoughtful,  intelligent  man  would  be  glad,  if 
he  could,  to  be  on  the  right   side,  believing 
that  in  the  long  run  the  right  side  will  be  the 

Strong    Side.  Cleveland,  Oct.  11,  1879. 

Men  and  their  God. 

40.  There  are  times  in  the  history  of  men 
and  nations,  when  they  stand  so  near  the  veil 


HERE  AND   THERE.  39 

that  separates  mortals  and  immortals,  time 
from  eternity,  and  men  from  their  God,  that 
they  can  almost  hear  their  breathings  and  feel 
the  pulsations  of  the  heart  of  the  infinite. 
Through  such  a  time  has  this  nation  passed. 
When  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  brave 
spirits  passed  from  the  field  of  honor  through 
that  thin  veil  to  the  presence  of  God,  and 
when,  ut  last,  its  parting  folds  admitted  the 
martyred  President  to  the  company  of  the 
dead  heroes  of  the  Republic,  the  nation  stood 
so  near  the  veil  that  the  whispers  of  God  were 
heard  by  the  children  of  men. 

Oration  on  Abraham  Lincoln. 
The  Portion  of  Man. 

41.  For  the  noblest  man  that  lives  there 
still  remains  a  conflict. 

The  Principles  of  Ethics. 

42.  The    principles  of    ethics   have    not 
changed  by  the  lapse  of  years. 

The  Value  of  Victory. 

43.  Victory  is  worth  nothing  except  for 
the  fruits  that  are  under  it,  in  it,  and  above 

it.  New  York,  Aug.  6,  1880. 


40  GARFIELVS    WORDS. 

Our  Happiness. 

44.  We   are   never  without  a  man  or  a 
motto  to  shout  over. 

The  Fame  of  the  Fisherman. 

45.  The  fame  of  the  dead  fisherman  has 
outlived  the  glory  of  the  Eternal  City. 

Arlington,  May  30,  18G8. 
Theological  Scholarship. 

46.  To  profound  theological    scholarship 
German  is  indispensable. 

Private  Letter,  July  30,  1873. 
Intelligent  Americans. 

47.  No  intelligent  American  of  our  day 
leads  an  isolated  life.  c/eveiand,  July  n,  ISTS. 

A  Missent  Millennium. 

48.  A  millennium  that  comes  before  its 
time  would  be  a  very  profitless  and  stupid  af 
fair,  i^d. 

Light. 

49.  Light  itself  is  a  great  corrective.     A 
thousand  wrongs   and   abuses  that  are  grown 
in  darkness  dissappear  like  owls  and  bats  be 
fore  the  light  of  day. 


AR  T.  —  ClIA  RA  CTER.  41 

ART. 
True  Art. 

50.  True  art  is  but  the  anti-type  of  nature 
—  the  embodiment  of  discovered  beauty   in 
utility. 

The  Spirit  of  Art. 

51.  We  cannot  study  nature    profoundly 
without    bringing   ourselves  into  communion 
with  the  spirit  of  art,  which  pervades  and  fills 
the  universe. 


CHARACTER. 

The  Production  of  Character. 

52.  Every  character  is  the  joint  product 
of  nature  and  nurture. 

Where  to  Pitch  the  Tent. 

53.  I  beg  you,  when  you  pitch  your  tent, 
pitch  it  among  the  living  and  not  among  the 

dead.  Cleveland,  Oct.  11,  1870. 

The  Problems  of  Character. 

54.  The    problems    to  be   solved    in    the 
study  of  human  life  and  character  are  these  : 


42  GARFl  ELD'S    WORDS. 

Given  the  character  of  a  man  and  the  con 
ditions  of  life  around  him,  what  will  be  his 
career?  Or,  given  his  character  and  career, 
of  what  kind  were  his  surroundings?  The 
relation  of  these  three  factors  to  each  other  is 
severely  logical.  From  them  is  deduced  all 
genuine  history.  Character  is  the  chief  ele 
ment,  for  it  is  both  a  result  and  a  cause  —  a 
result  of  influences  and  a  cause  of  results. 

Knowledge  of  Character. 

55.  I  have   sometimes    thought   that  we 
cannot  know  any  man  thoroughly  well  while 
he  is  in  perfect  health.     As  the  ebb-tide  dis 
closes  the  real  lines  of  the  shore  and  the  bed 
of  the  sea,  so  feebleness,  sickness,  and  pain 
bring  out  the  real  character  of  a  man.     For 
years    he   pushed   away  the    hand    that   was 
reaching   for   his   heart-strings,    and    bravely 
worked    on  until    the    last    hour.     I    do    not 
doubt  that  his  will  and  cheerful  courage  pro 
longed  his  life  many  years. 

Oration  on  Congressman  Starkweather. 

The  Foundation  of  Character. 

56.  Character  is  the  result  of  two   great 
forces :  the    initial    force  which   the    Creator 
gave  it  when  He  called  the  man  into  being ; 


CHARACTER.  43 

and  the  force  of  all  the  external  influence  and 
culture  that  mold  and  modify  the  development 

Ol  a  Ilie.  Oration  on  Congressman  Gustave  Schleiclttr. 

The  Influences  of  Character. 

57.  No  power  of  analysis  can  exhibit  all 
the  latent  forces  enfolded  in  the  spirit  of  a 
new-born    child,    which    derive   their    origin 
from  the  thoughts  and  deeds  of  remote  ances 
tors,  and,  enveloped  in  the  awful  mystery  of 
life,  have  been  transmitted  from   generation 
to     generation     across     forgotten     centuries. 
Each  new  life  is  thus    "  the  heir  of   all  the 
ages."  ibid. 

A  Rare  Gift  of  Character. 

58.  The  great  Carlyle  has  said  that  the 
best  gift  God  ever  gave  to  man  was  an  eye 
that  could  really  see  ;  and  that  only  few  men 
were  recipients  of  that  gift.    I  venture  to  add 
that  an  equally  rare  and  not  less  important 
gift  is  the  courage  to  tell  what  one  sees. 

Oration  on  Zachariah  Chandler,  Jan.  28,  1SSO. 
The  Formation  of  Strong  Character. 

59.  There  will  be  a  period  when  old  men 
and  young  will  be  electrified  by  the  spirit  of 
the  times,  and   one   result  will   be  to    make 


44  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

every  individuality  more  marked  and  their 
opinions  more  decisive.  I  believe  the  times 
will  be  even  more  favorable  than  calm  ones 
for  the  formation  of  strong  and  forcible  char 
acters.  Private  Letter  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  War. 

The  most  Interesting  Object  in  the  "World. 

60.  If  the  superior  beings  of  the  universe 
would  look  down  upon  the  world  to  find  the 
most  interesting  object,  it  would  be  the  unfin 
ished,  unformed  character  of  young  men,  or  of 
young  women.  Hiram  Coiiege,  July,  isso. 

The  Value  of  Leisure. 

61.1  congratulate  you  on  your  leisure.  I 
recommend  you  to  keep  it  as  your  gold,  as  your 
wealth,  as  your  means,  out  of  which  you  win 
the  leisure  you  have  to  think,  the  leisure  you 
have  to  be  let  alone,  the  leisure  you  have  to 
throw  the  plummet  with  your  hand,  and  sound 
the  depths  and  find  out  what  is  below ;  the  leis 
ure  you  have  to  walk  about  the  towers  of  your 
selves,  and  find  how  strong  they  are,  or  how 
weak  they  are,  and  determine  what  needs 
building  up,  and  determine  how  to  shape 
them,  that  you  may  make  the  final  being  that 
you  are  to  be.  Oh,  those  hours  of  building ! 


& 

Ibid. 


GREAT   CHARACTERS.  45 

The  Early  Influences. 

62.  No  page  of  human  history  is  so  in 
structive  and  significant  as  the  record  of  those 
early  influences  which  develop  the  character 
and  direct  the  lives  of  eminent  men. 

Oration  on  Joseph.  Henry,  Jan.  16,  1879. 


The  Moment  of  Discovery. 

63.  To  every  man  of  great  original  power, 
there  comes,  in  early  youth,  a  moment  of  sud 
den    discovery  —  of    self-recognition  —  when 
his  own  nature  is  revealed  to  himself,  when  he 
catches,  for  the  first  time,  a  strain  of  that  im 
mortal  song  to  which  his  own  spirit  answers, 
and   which  becomes  thenceforth  and  forever 
the  inspiration  of  his  life 

11  Like  noble  music  unto  noble  words."  Ibid. 

Poverty  no  Obstacle  to  Advancement. 

64.  Let  not  poverty  stand  as  an  obstacle 

in  your  Way.  Oration  on  Miss  Booth,  Jan  22, 1876. 


GREAT   CHARACTERS. 
George  H.  Thomas. 

65.  Not  a  man  of  iron,  but  of  live  oak. 

Oration  on  Geo.  H.  T/ioinaf. 


46  GARFl ELD'S    WORDS. 

Thomas's  Simplicity. 

66.  His  character  was  as  grand  and  sim 
ple  as  a  colossal  pillar  of  chiseled  granite. 


Ibid. 


Thomas's  Power. 

67.  His  po\ver  as  a  commander  was  de 
veloped  slowly  and  silently  ;  not  like  a  vol 
canic  land  lifted  from   the  sea  by  sudden  and 
violent  upheaval,  but  rather  like  a  coral  island, 
where  each  increment  is  a  growth,  —  an  act 
of  life  and  work.  ma. 

Lincoln's  Place. 

68.  He  was  the  pilot  and  commander  of 
his  administration.  oration  on  Lincoln. 

Lincoln's  Character. 

69.  He  was  one  of   the  few  great  rulers 
whose  wisdom  increased  with  his  power,  and 
whose  spirit  grew  gentler  and  tenderer  as  his 
triumphs  were  multiplied. 

Oration  on  Abraham  Lincoln. 
Miss  Booth. 

70.  After  her  return   from  Oberlin,   she 
paid   more  attention  to  the   mint,  anise,  and 

of  life.  Oration  on  Miss  Booth. 


GREAT   CHARACTERS.  47 

John  Stuart  Mill. 

71.  I  can't  see  that  he  ever  came  to  com 
prehend  human  life  as  a  reality  from  the  act 
ual   course   of   human  ad'airs,  beginning  with 
Greek    life    down    to    our    own.       Men    and 
women  were  always  with  him   more  or  less 
of  the  nature  of  abstractions  ;  while,  with  his 
enormous  mass  of  books,  he  learned  a  won 
derful  power  of    analysis,  for  which   he   was 
by  nature   surprisingly  fitted.     But  his  edu 
cation  was  narrow  just  where  his  own  mind 
was    originally   deficient.     He  was   educated 
solely  through  books  ;  for  his  father  was  never 
a  companion.      His  brothers  and  sisters  bored 
him.       He    had    no    playfellows,    and    of    his 
mother   not   a  word    is   said    in    his   autobi 
ography.  Private  Letter,  Jan.  18,  1874. 

Zachariah  Chandler. 

72.  As  a  political  force  Mr.  Chandler  may 
be  classed    among   the  Cyclopean  figures    of 
history.      The    Norsemen    would    enroll    him 
us  one  of  the  heroes  in  the  halls  of   Valhalla. 
They  would  associate  him  with  Thor  and  his 
thunder  hammer.     The  Romans  would  asso 
ciate  him  with  Vulcan  and  the  forges  of  the 
Cyclops,  who  made  the  earth  tremble  under 
the  weight  of  his  strokes. 

Ifoiife  of  Representatives,  Jan.  28,  1880. 


48  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

Congressman  Starkweather. 

73.  He  had  one    experience  that   almost 
every  man  must  have  before  his  character  can 
be  fully  tested.      He  was    tried   in  the  fiery 
furnace  of  detraction  and  abuse.     I  remember 
well,  in  that  period  of  assault,  how  calmly,  how 
modestly,  and  yet  how  bravely  he  bore  him 
self —  without  bitterness  and  without  shrink 
ing —  boldly  meeting  all  assaults,  calmly  an 
swering,  bearing    himself  through  the  storm 
like  a  genuine  man  as  he  was.     That  was  the 
test  that  set  the  seal  of  character  and  gave 
assurance  that  he  was  made  of  the  real  stuff 
of  which  genuine  heroic  men  are  made. 

Robert  Burns. 

74.  To  appreciate  the  genius  and  achieve 
ments  of  Robert  Burns,  it  is  fitting  to  com 
pare  him   with  others   who   have    been  emi 
nent  in  the  same  field.     In  the  highest  class 
of   lyric  poetry  their   names    stand  eminent. 
Their  field  covers  eighteen  centuries  of  time, 
and  the  three  names  are  Horace,  Beranger, 
and  Burns.     It  is  an  interesting  and  sugges 
tive  fact,  that  each  of  these  sprang  from  the 
humble  walks  of  life.     Each  may  be  described 
as  one  — 

"  Who  begs  a.  brother  of  the  earth, 
T<>  irive  him  leave  to  toil." 


GREAT  CHARACTERS.  49 

and  each  proved  by  his  life  and  achievements 
that,  however  hard  the  lot  of  poverty,  "  a 
in iin's  a  man  for  a'  that." 

A  great  writer  has  said  that  it  took  the 
age  forty  years  to  catch  Burns,  so  far  was  he 
in  advance  of  the  thoughts  of  his  times.  But 
we  ought  not  to  be  surprised  at  the  power  he 
exhibited.  We  are  apt  to  be  misled  when  we 
seek  to  find  the  cause  of  greatness  in  the 
schools  and  universities  alone.  There  is  no 
necessary  conflict  between  nature  and  art.  Tn 
the  highest  and  best  sense  art  is  as  natural  as 
nature.  We  do  not  wonder  at  the  perfect 
beauty  of  the  rose,  although  we  may  not 
understand  the  mysteries  by  which  its  deli 
cate  petals  are  fashioned  and  fed  out  of  the 
grosser  elements  of  earth.  We  do  not  wonder 
at  the  perfection  of  the  rose  because  God  is 
the  artist.  When  He  fashioned  the  germ  of 
the  rose-tree  He  made  possible  the.  beauties  of 
its  flower.  The  earth  and  air  and  sunshine 
conspired  to  unfold  and  adorn  it  —  to  tint  and 
crown  it  with  peerless  beauty.  When  the 
Divine  Artist  would  produce  a  poem,  He 
plants  a  germ  of  it  in  a  human  soul,  and  out 
of  that  soul  the  poem  springs  and  grows  as 
from  the  rose-tree  the  rose. 

Burns  was  a   child    of   nature.      He    lived 

4 


50  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

close  to  her  beating  heart,  and  all  the  rich 
and  deep  sympathies  of  life  glowed  and  lived 
in  his  heart.  The  beauties  of  earth,  air,  and 
sky  filled  and  transfigured  him. 

"  He  did  but  sing  because  he  must, 
And  piped  but  as  the  linnets  sing." 

With  the  light  of  his  genius  he  glorified 
"  the  banks  and  braes  "  of  his  native  land,  and, 
speaking  for  the  universal  human  heart,  has 
set  its  sweetest  thought  to  music,  — 

"  Whose  echoes  roll  from  soul  to  soul, 
And  grow  forever  and  forever.  ' 

Oration  on  the  Anniversary  of  Burns's  Death 


GREAT  MEN. 
Towering  Men. 

75.  As  a  giant  tree  absorbs  all  the   ele 
ments  of  growth  within  its  reach  and  leaves 
only  a  sickly  vegetation  in  its  shadow,  so  do 
towering -great  men  absorb  all  the  strength 
and  glory  of  their  surroundings  and  leave  a 
dearth  of  greatness  for  a  whole  generation. 

Honors. 

76.  A  monopoly  of  popular  honors  is  as 
much  of  a  tyranny  as  a  monopoly  of  wealth. 


SUCCESS  IN  LIFE.  51 

Descendants  of  Great  Men. 

77.  It  has  been  fortunate  that  most  of 
our  greatest  men  have  left  no  descendants  to 
shine  in  the  borrowed  lustre  of  a  great  name. 


SUCCESS   IN   LIFE. 
The  Men  who  Succeed. 

78.  The  men  who  succeed  best  in  public 
life  are  those  who  take  the  risk  of  standing 
by  their  own  convictions. 

Luck. 

79.  Luck  is  an  ignis-fatuus.      You   may 
follow  it  to  ruin,  but  never  to  success. 

Poverty. 

80.  Poverty  is    uncomfortable,  as  I    can 
testify ;    but  nine  times  out  of  ten  the  best 
thing  that  can  happen  to  a  young  man  is  to 
be  tossed  overboard  and  compelled  to  sink  or 
swim  for  himself.     In  all  my  acquaintance  I 
never  knew  a  man  to  be  drowned  who  was 
worth  the  saving. 


Growth. 

81.    Growth  is   better   than   permanence, 
and  permanent  growth  is  better  than  all. 


62  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

The  Bestowal  of  the  "Wreath. 

82.  It  is  no  honor  or  profit  merely  to  ap 
pear  in  the  arena.     The  wreath  is  for  those 
who  contend. 

The  Man  Men   Love. 

83.  If  there  be  one  thing  upon  this  earth 
that  mankind  love  and  admire  better  than  an 
other,  it  is  a  brave  man  —  it  is  a  man  who 
dares  to  look  the  devil   in  the  face  and  tell 
him  he  is  a  devil. 

Pluck. 

84.  A  pound  of  pluck  is  worth  a  ton  of 
luck. 

The  Chance  of  the  Republic. 

85.  There  is  no  American  boy,  however 
poor,  however  humble,  orphan  though  he  may 
be,  that,  if  lie  have  a  clear  head,  a  true  heart, 
a  strong  arm,  may  not  rise   through  all  the 
grades  of  society,  and  become  the  crown,  the 
glory,  the  pillar  of  the  State. 

The  Commanders. 

86.  To  a  young  man  who  has  in  himself 
the  magnificent  possibilities  of   life  it  is  not 
fitting  that  he  should  be    permanently  com- 


SUCCESS  IN  LIFE.  53 

manded  ;  he  should  be  a  commander.  You 
must  not  continue  to  be  the  employed.  You 
must  be  an  employer  !  You  must  be  pro 
moted  from  the  ranks  to  a  command.  There 
is  something,  young  man,  which  you  can  com 
mand  —  go  and  find  it  and  command  it.  Do 
not,  I  beseech  you,  be  content  to  enter  upon 
any  business  which  does  not  require  and  com 
pel  constant  intellectual  growth. 

Knowledge. 

87.  In  order  to  have  any  success  in  life, 
or  any  worthy  success,  you  must  resolve  to 
carry  into  your  work  a  fullness  of  knowledge 
—  not  merely  a  sufficiency,  but  more  than  a 

sufficiency. 

Achievement. 

88.  Be  fit  for  more   than  the  thing  you 
are  now  doing. 

Proportion. 

89.  If  you  are  not  too  large  for  the  place 
you  are  too  small  for  it. 

The  Right  Trust. 

90.  Young   men    talk  of   trusting  to  the 
spur  of  the  occasion.     That  trust  is  vain.    Oc- 


54  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

casions  cannot  make  spurs.  If  you  expect  to 
wear  spurs  you  must  win  them.  If  you  wish 
to  use  them  you  must  buckle  them  to  yonr 
own  heels  before  you  go  into  the  fight. 


THE    PRIVILEGES   OF   YOUTH. 
Two  Privileges. 

91.  The  privilege  of  being  a  young  man 
is  a  great  privilege,  and  the  privilege  of  grow 
ing  up  to  be  an  independent  man  in  middle 
life  is  a  greater.  Speeck  at  Peekskui,  AU?.  4,  isso. 


Glory  of  Manhood. 

92.  I  have  not  so  far  left  the  coast  of 
youth  to  travel  inland  but  that  I  can  very 
well  remember  the  state  of  young  manhood, 
from  an  experience  in  it  of  some  years,  and 
there  is  nothing  to  me  in  this  world  so  inspir 
ing  as  the  possibilities  that  lie  locked  up  in 
the  head  and  breast  of  a  young  man.  The 
hopes  that  lie  before  him,  the  great  inspira 
tions  above  him,  all  these  things,  with  the 
untried  pathway  of  life  opening  up  its  diffi 
culties  and  dangers,  inspire  him  to  courage, 
and  force,  and  work.  mntor  Oct,  8  1880. 


EDUCATION.  55 

EDUCATION. 
A  Principle. 

93.  School-houses  are  less  expensive  than 
rebellions. 

Outrages  of  Education. 

94.  It  is  to  me  a  perpetual  wonder  that 
any  child's  love   of  knowledge  survives  the 
outrages  of  the  school-house. 

The  Beginning. 

95.  That  man  will  be  a  benefactor  of  his 
race  who  shall  teach  us  how  to  manage  rightly 
the  first  years  of  a  child's  education. 

Wrongly  Directed  Effort. 

96.  One  half  of  the  time  which  is  now 
almost  wholly  wasted,  in  district  schools,  on 
English  grammar  attempted  at  too  early  an 
age,  would  be  sufficient  to  teach  our  children 
to  love  the  Republic  and  to  become  its  loyal 
and  life-long  supporters. 

The  New  Necessities. 

97.  The  old  necessities  have  passed  away. 
We  now  have  strong  and  noble  living  lan 
guages  ;  rich  in  literature,  replete  with  high 


56  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

and  earnest  thought,  the  language  of  science, 
religion,  and  liberty,  and  yet  we  bid  our  chil 
dren  feed  their  spirits  on  the  life  of  the  dead 
ages,  instead  of  the  inspiring  life  and  vigor  of 
our  own  times.  I  do  not  object  to  classical 
learning  —  far  from  it  —  but  I  would  not  have 
it  exclude  the  living  present. 

Greek. 

98.  Greek  is  perhaps  the  most  perfect  in 
strument  of  thought  ever  invented  by  man, 
and  its  literature  has  never  been  equaled  in 
purity  of  style  and  boldness  of  expression. 

The  Graduate's  Achievements. 

99.  The  graduate  would  blush  were  he  to 
mistake  the  place  of  a  Greek  accent,  or  put 
the  ictus  on  the  second  syllable  of  Eolus  ;  but 
the  whole  circle  of  the  "  liberalium  artium" 
so  pompously  referred  to   in  his  diploma  of 
graduation,  may  not  have  taught  him  whether 
the  jejunum  is  a  bone  or  the  humerus  an  in 
testine. 

The  Student's  Course. 

100.  The  student  should  study  himself, 
his  relation  to  society,  to  nature  and  to  art  — 
and  above  all,  in  all,  and  through  all  these; 


EDUCATION.  57 

lie  should  study  the  relations  of  himself,  so 
ciety,  nature  and  art,  to  God  the  author  of 
them  all. 


A  Danger. 

101.  It  would  be  unjust  to  our  people  and 
dangerous   to    our  institutions   to   apply   any 
portion  of  the  revenues  of  the  nation  or  of  the 
States  to  the  support  of  sectarian  schools. 

The  Idea  of  Giving. 

102.  It  seems  to  me  that,  in  this  act  of 
giving,  we  almost  copy  its  prototype  in  what 
God  Himself  has  done  on  this  great  continent 
of  ours.     In  the  centre  of  its  greatest  breadth, 
where,  otherwise,  there  might  be  a  desert  for 
ever,  he  has  planted   a  chain  of  the  greatest 
lakes  on  the   earth,  and  the  exhalations  aris 
ing  from  their  pure  waters  every  day,  come 
down  in  gracious  showers,  and  make  that  a 
blooming  garden  which  otherwise  might  be  a 
desert  waste.     And  from  our  great  wilderness 
lands  it  is  proposed  that  their  proceeds,  like 
the  dew,  shall  fall  forever,  not  upon  the  lands, 
but  upon  the  minds  of  the  children  of  the  na 
tion,  giving  them,  for  all  time  to  come,  all  the 
blessing,  and  growth,  and  greatness,  that  ed 
ucation  can  afford.     That  thought,  I  say  it 


58  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

again,  is  a  great  one,  worthy  of  a  great  na 
tion  ;  and  this  country  will  remember  the  man 
who  formulated  it  into  language,  and  will  re 
member  the  Congress  that  made  it  law. 

House  of  Representatives,  Feb.  6,  1872. 
Two  Forces  of  Education. 

103.  Here  two  forces  play  with  all  their 
vast   power  upon    our  system   of   education. 
The  first  is  that  of  the  local,  municipal  power 
under  our  State  governments.     There  is  the 
centre  of  responsibility.     There  is  the  chief 
educational  power.     There  can  be    enforced 
Luther's  great  thought  of  placing  on  magis 
trates  the  duty  of  educating  children.        ibid. 

The  Mind  in  Education. 

104.  This  work  of  public  education  par 
takes  in  a  peculiar  way  of  the  spirit  of  the 
human  mind  in  its  efforts  for  culture.     The 
mind  must  be  as  free  from  extraneous  control 
as  possible  ;  must  work  under  the  inspiration 
of  its  own  desires  for  knowledge  ;  and  while 
instructors  and  books  are  necessary  helps,  the 
fullest  and  highest  success  must  spring  from 
the  power  of  self-help.  ibid. 


EDUCATION.  59 

The  Best  System. 

105.  The  best  system  of  education  is  that 
which  draws  its  chief  support  from  the  volun 
tary  effort  of  the  community,  from  the   indi 
vidual  efforts  of  citizens,  and  from  those  bur 
dens  of  taxation  which  they  voluntarily  im 
pose  upon  themselves.  ibid. 

The  Importance  of  Education. 

106.  Next  in  importance  to  freedom  and 
justice,  is  popular  education,  without  which, 
neither  justice   nor  freedom    can    be   perma 
nently  maintained.  Letter  of  Acceptance. 

How  to  Study. 

107.  Use   several    text-books.      Get   the 
views  of   different  authors    as  you   advance. 
In  that  way  you  can  plow  a  broader  furrow. 
I  always  study  in  that  way.         Reply  to  a  scholar. 

108.  The  student  should  first  study  what 
he  needs  most  to  know  ;  the  order  of  his  needs 
should  be  the  order  of  his  work. 

Hiram,  June  Il.lSGQ. 
The  Perversions  of  Education. 

109.  It  will  not  be  denied  that  from  the 
day  that  the  child's  foot  first  presses  the  green 


60  GARF/ELD'S    WORDS. 

turf  till  the  day  when,  an  old  man,  he  is  ready 
to  be  laid  under  it,  there  is  not  an  hour  in 
which  he  does  not  need  to  know  a  thousand 
things  in  relation  to  his  body,  "what  he  shall 
eat,  what  he  shall  drink,  and  wherewithal  ho 
shall  be  clothed."  If  parents  were  themselves 
sufliciently  educated,  most  of  this  knowledge 
might  be  acquired  at  the  mother's  knee  ;  but, 
by  the  strangest  perversion  and  misdirection 
of  the  educational  forces,  these  most  essential 
elements  of  knowledge  are  more  neglected 
than  any  other.  ibid. 

A  Finished  Education. 

110.  A  finished  education  is  supposed  to 
consist  mainly  of  literary  culture.  The  story 
of  the  forges  of  the  Cyclops,  where  the  thun 
derbolts  of  Jove  were  fashioned,  is  supposed 
to  adorn  elegant  scholarship  more  gracefully 
than  those  sturdy  truths  which  are  preaching 
to  this  generation  in  the  wonders  of  the  mine, 
in  the  fire  of  the  furnace,  in  the  clang  of  the 
iron-mills,  and  the  other  innumerable  indus 
tries  which,  more  than  all  other  human  agen 
cies,  have  made  our  civilization  what  it  is,  and 
are  destined  to  achieve  wonders  yet  un 
dreamed  Of.  Ibid. 


EDUCATION.  61 

Education  and  Industry. 

111.  This  generation  is  beginning  to  un 
derstand  that  education  should  not  be  forever 
divorced  from  industry;  that  the  highest  re 
sults  can  be  reached  only  when  science  guides 
the  hand  of  labor.     With  what  eagerness  and 
alacrity   is    industry   seizing    every   truth    of 
science  and  putting  it  in  harness.  ma. 

Educating  Children. 

112.  Grecian  children  were  taught  to  rev 
erence  and  emulate  the  virtue  of  their  ances 
tors.     Our  educational  forces  are  so  wielded 
as  to  teach  our  children  to  admire  most  that 
which  is  foreign  and  fabulous  and  dead.    ibid. 

A  Condition  of  Graduation. 

113.  I  insist  that  it  should  be  made  an  in 
dispensable  condition  of  graduation  in  every 
American  college,  that  the  student  must  un 
derstand  the  history  of  this  continent  since  its 
discovery  by  Europeans,  the  origin  and   his 
tory  of  the   United  States,  its  constitution  of 
government,  the  struggles  through  which  it 
has  passed,  and  the  rights  and  duties  of  citi 
zens  who   are   to  determine   its  destiny  and 
share  its  glory.  lbid- 


62  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

The  Education  of  "Women. 

114.  At  present,  the  most  valuable  gift 
which  can   be  bestowed   on  woman  is  some 
thing  to  do,  which  they  can  do  well  and  wor 
thily,  and  thereby  maintain  themselves. 

Oration  before  the  Washington  Business  College,  Jan.  29,  1SG9. 
The  Duty  of  the  Government. 

115.  The  stork  is  a  sacred  bird  in  Hol 
land,  and  is  protected  by  her  laws,  because  it 
destroys  those  insects  which  would  undermine 
the  dikes,  and  let  the  sea  again  overwhelm  the 
rich  fields  of  the  Netherlands.     Shall  this  govT 
eminent  do  nothing  to  foster  and  strengthen 
those  educational   agencies   which   alone   can 
shield  the  coming  generation  from  ignorance 
and  vice,  and  make  it  the  impregnable  bul 
wark  of  liberty  and  law  ? 

House  of  Representatives,  Jan.  8,  1866. 
A  Question  of  Weight. 

116.  Is  it  of  no  consequence  that  we  ex 
plore  the  boundaries  of  that  wonderful  intel 
lectual  empire  which  encloses  within   its  do 
minion  the  fate  of  succeeding  generations,  and 
of  this  Republic?  ibid. 


EDUCATION.  G3 

The  Architects  of  the  Future.     . 

117.  The  children  of   to-day  will  be  the 
architects  of  our  country's  destiny  in  1900. 

ibid. 

The  Student's  Studies. 

118.  Prominent  among  all  the  rest  should 
be  his  study  of  the  wonderful  history  of  the 
human  race,  in  its  slow  and  toilsome  march 
across  the   centuries  —  now   buried  in   igno 
rance,  superstition,  and  crime ;  now  rising  to 
the   sublimity   of    heroism,    and    catching    a 
glimpse  of   a    better   destiny  ;    now   turning 
remorselessly  away  from,  and  leaving  to  per 
ish,  empires  and  civilizations  in  which  it  had 
invested  its  faith  and  courage  and  boundless 
energy  for  a  thousand  years,   and  plunging 
into  the  forests  of  Germany,  Gaul,  and  Brit 
ain,   to  build  for  itself    new  empires    better 
fitted  for  its    new   aspirations ;   and   at  last, 
crossing  three   thousand    miles    of    unknown 
sea,  and  building  in  the  wilderness  of  a  new 
hemisphere   its   latest   and    proudest    monu 
ments.  Address  at  Hiram. 

The  Power  of  Intellect. 

119.  The  intellectual    resources    of    this 
country  are  the  elements  that  lie  behind  all 


64  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

material  wealth,  and  make  it  either  a  curse 
or  a  blessing.  ibid. 

Our  Safeguard  from  Danger. 

120.  Finally,  our  great  hope  for  the  fu 
ture,  our  great  safeguard  against  danger,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  general  and  thorough  edu 
cation  of  our  people,  and  in  the  virtue  which 
accompanies  such  education.  And  all  these 
elements  depend,  in  a  large  measure,  upon  the 
intellectual  and  moral  culture  of  the  young 
men  who  go  out  from  our  higher  institutions 
of  learning.  From  the  stand-point  of  this  gen 
eral  culture  we  may  trustfully  encounter  the 
perils  that  assail  us.  Secure  against  dangers 
from  abroad,  united  at  home  by  the  stronger 
ties  of  common  interest  and  patriotic  pride, 
holding  and  unifying  our  vast  territory  by 
the  most  potent  forces  of  civilization,  reiving 
upon  the  intelligent  strength  and  responsi 
bility  of  each  citizen,  and,  most  of  all,  upon 
the  power  of  truth,  without  undue  arrogance, 
we  may  hope  that  in  the  centuries  to  come 
our  Republic  will  continue  to  live  and  hold  its 
high  place  among  the  nations  as 

"  The  heir  of  all  the  ages  in  the  foremost  files  of  time." 

Address  at  Hud  ton  College. 


IDEAS.  — LITERATURE.  65 

IDEAS. 
The  Life  of  Idea*. 

121.  Ideas  outlive  men. 

Great  Ideas. 

122.  Great  ideas  travel  slowly,  and  for  a 
time  noiselessly,  as  the  gods  whose  feet  were 
shod  with  wool. 


LITERATURE. 
The  Relations  of  Art  and  Literature. 

123.  What  the  arts  are  to  the  world  of 
matter,  literature  is  to  the  world  of  mind. 

A  Fault  of  Modern  Literature. 

124.  The   greater   part   of    our    modern 
literature  bears    evident  marks  of    the  haste 
which  characterizes  all  the  movements  of  this 
age  ;  but,  in  reading  these  older  authors,  we 
are  impressed  with  the  idea  that  they  enjoyed 
the    most  comfortable    leisure.     Many  books 
we  can  read  in  a  railroad  car,  and  feel  a  har 
mony  between  the  rushing  of  the  train  and 
the  haste   of    the    author ;    but  to   enjoy  the 
older  authors,  we  need  the  quiet  of  a  winter 


66  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

evening  —  an  easy-chair  before  a  cheerful  fire, 
and  all  the  equanimity  of  spirits  we  can  com 
mand.  Then  the  genial  good  nature,  the  rich 
fullness,  the  persuasive  eloquence  of  those  old 
masters  will  fall  upon  us  like  the  warm,  glad 
sunshine,  and  afford  those  hours  of  calm  con 
templation  in  which  the  spirit  may  expand 
with  generous  growth,  and  gain  deep  and 
comprehensive  views.  The  pages  of  friendly 
old  Goldsmith  come  to  us  like  a  golden  au 
tumn  day,  when  every  object  which  meets  the 
eye  bears  all  the  impress  of  the  completed 
year,  and  the  beauties  of  an  autumnal  forest. 

Essay  on   "  Karl   Tkeodor  Korner''  in   Williams   Quarterly,    March, 
1856. 


The  Keal  Spirit  of  Literature. 

125.  He  who  would  understand 'the  real 
spirit  of  literature  should  not  select  authors 
of  any  one  period  alone,  but  rather  go  to  the 
fountain-head,  and   trace  the  little  rill  as  it 
courses  along  down  the  ages,  broadening  and 
deepening  into  the  great  ocean    of   Thought 
which  the  men  of  the  present  are  exploring. 

Ibid. 
The  True  Literary  Man. 

126.  The    true   literary  man  is  no  mere 
gleaner,  following  in  the  rear  and  gathering 


LITERATURE.  67 

up  the  fragments  of  the  world's  thought ;  but 
he  goes  down  deep  into  the  heart  of  humanity, 
watches  its  throbbings,  analyzes  the  forces  at 
work  there ;  traces  out,  with  prophetic  fore 
sight,  their  tendencies,  and  thus,  standing  out 
far  beyond  his  age,  holds  up  the  picture  of 
what  it  is  and  is  to  be.  ibid. 

Forced  Work. 

127.  It  is  indeed   an  uninviting   task  to 
bubble  up  sentiment  and    elaborate  thought 
in  obedience  to  corporate  laws,  and  not  infre 
quently  these   children    of   the    brain,    when 
paraded  before  the    proper  authorities,  show 
by  their  meagre  proportions  that  they  have 
not  been  nourished  by  the  genial  warmth  of 

a  Willing  heart.       Editor's  Table,  Williams  Quarterly,  ISoQ. 

The  Purpose  of  Literary  Production. 

128.  It    proposes    a   kind    of   intellectual 
tournament  where  we  may  learn  to  hurl  the 
lance  and  wield  the  sword,  and  thus  prepare 
for  the  conflict  of  life.     It  shall  be  our  aim  to 
keep  the  lists  still  open  and  the  arena  clear, 
that  the  knights  of  the  quill  may  learn  to  hurl 
the  lance  and  wield  the  sword  of  thought,  and 
thus  be  ready  for  sterner  duties.     We  shall 
also  endeavor  to  decorate  the  arena  with  all 


68  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

the  flowers  that  our  own  gardens  afford,  and 
thus  render  the  place  more  pleasant  and  in 
viting.  Ibid. 

Books. 

129.  The  few  books  that  came  within  his 
reach  he  devoured  with  the  divine  hunger  of 

Oration  on  Lincoln. 


AN   ODE   FROM   HORACE. 

A  Translation. 

WASHINGTON,  January  15,  1874. 

ISO.  Permit  me  to  transcribe  a  metrical 
version  which  I  made  the  other  day  of  the 
third  ode  of  Horace's  first  book.  It  is  still  in 
the  rough  :  — 

TO  THE  SHIP  WHICH  CARRIED  VIRGIL  TO  ATHENS. 


So  may  the  powerful  goddess  of  Cyprus, 
So  may  the  brothers  of  Helen,  turn  stars, 
So  may  the  father  and  ruler  of  tempest 
(Restraining  all  others,  save  only  liipix) 


Guide  thee,  0  ship,  on  thy  journey,  that  owest 
To  Attica's  shores  Virgil  trusted  to  thee. 
I  pray  thee  restore  him,  in  safety  restore  him, 
And  saving  him,  save  me  the  half  of  my  soul. 


AN  ODE  FROM  HORACE.  69 

in. 

Stout  oak  and  brass  triple  surrounded  his  bosom 
Who  tirst  to  tlie  waves  of  the  merciless  sea 
Committed  hi.->  frail  bark.     He  feared  not  Africus, 
Fierce  battling  the  gales  of  the  furious  North. 


Nor  feared  he  the  gloom  of  the  rain-bearing  Hyads, 
Nor  the  rage  of  fierce  Notus,  a  tyrant  than  whom 
No  storm-god  that  rules  on  the  broad  Adriatic 
Is  mightier,  its  billows  to  rouse  or  to  calm. 


What  form,  or  what  pathway  of  death  him  affrighted, 

Who  faced  with  dry  eyes  monsters  swimming  the  deep, 

Who  gazed  without  fear  on  the  storm-swollen  billows, 

And  the  lightning-scarred  rocks,  grim  with  death  on  the  shore? 


In  vain  did  the  prudent  Creator  dissever 
The  lands  from  the  lands  by  the  desolate  sea, 
If  o'er  its  broad  bosom,  to  mortals  forbidden, 
Still  leap,  all  profanely,  our  impious  keels. 


Recklessly  bold  to  encounter  all  dangers, 
Through  deeds  God-forbidden  still  rushes  our  race; 
The  son  of  liipelus,  Heaven-defying, 
By  impious  fraud  to  the  nations  brought  fire. 


When  fire  was  thus  stolen  from  regions  celestial 
Decav  smote  the  earth  and  brought  down  in  his  train 
A  new  summoned  cohort  of  fevers  o'erbrooding, 
And  Fate,  till  then  slow  and  reluctant  to  strike, 


Gave  wings  to  his  speed  and  swift  death  to  his  victims. 
Bold  Diedalus  tried  the  void  realms  of  the  air, 


70  GARFIELD'S   WORDS. 

Borne  upward  on  pinions  not  given  to  mortals. 
The  labors  of  Hercules  broke  into  Hell. 


Naught  is  too  high  for  the  daring  of  mortals, 
Even  Heaven  we  seek  in  our  folly  to  scale  : 
I5v  our  own  impious  crimes  we  permit  not  the  thunder 
To  sleep  without  flame  in  the  right  hand  of  Jove. 

I  can  better  most  of  these  verses,  but  send 
to  you  as  I  left  them  in  the  first  rough  draft. 

From  a  Private  Letter. 


A  SPRAY   OF  ELOQUENCE. 
A  Monument  of  our  Liberties. 

131.  When  Pericles  had  made  Greece  im 
mortal  in  arts  and  arms,  in  liberty  and  law, 
he  invoked  the  genius  of  Phidias  to  devise  a 
monument  which  should  symbolize  the  beauty 
and  glory  of  Athens.  That  artist  selected  for 
his  theme  the  tutelar  divinity  of  Athens,  the 
Jove-born  Goddess,  protectress  of  arts  and 
arms,  of  industry  and  law,  who  typified  the 
Greek  conception  of  composed,  majestic,  un 
relenting  force.  He  erected  on  the  heights 
of  the  Acropolis  a  colossal  statue  of  Minerva, 
armed  with  spear  and  helmet,  which  towered 
in  awful  majesty  above  the  surrounding  tern- 


A  SPItAY   OF   ELOQUENCE.  71 

pies  of  the  gods.  Sailors  on  far-off  ships  be 
lie  Ul  the  crest  and  spear  of  the  Goddess,  and 
bowed  with  reverent  awe.  To  every  Greek 
she  was  the  symbol  of  power  and  glory.  But 
the  Acropolis,  with  its  temples  and  statues,  is 
now  a  heap  of  ruins.J  The  visible  gods  have 
vanished  in  the  clearer  light  of  modern  civil 
ization.  We  cannot  restore  the  decayed  em 
blems  of  ancient  Greece,  but  it  is  in  your 
power,  0  Judges,  to  erect  in  this  citadel  of 
our  liberties  a  monument  more  lasting  than 
brass  ;  invisible,  indeed,  to  the  eye  of  flesh, 
but  visible  to  the  eye  of  the  spirit  as  the 
awful  form  and  figure  of  Justice  crowning 
and  adorning  the  Republic  ;  rising  above  the 
storms  of  political  strife,  above  the  din  of 
battle,  above  the  earthquake  shock  of  rebel 
lion  ;  seen  from  afar  and  hailed  as  protector 
by  the  oppressed  of  all  nations  ;  dispensing 
equal  blessings,  and  covering  with  the  pro 
tecting  shield  of  law  the  weakest,  the  hum 
blest,  the  meanest,  and,  until  declared  by 
solemn  law  unworthy  of  protection,  the  guilt 
iest  of  its  citizens. 

Peroration  to  Argument  in  the  L.  P.  MiUigan  Case,  Supreme 
Court,  March,  1866. 


72  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

MEMORY. 
A  Poem. 

132.    u'Tis  beauteous  night;  the  stars  look  brightly  down 
Upon  the  earth,  decked  in  her  robe  of  snow. 
No  light  gleams  at  the  window  save  my  own, 
Which  gives  its  cheer  to  midnight  and  to  me, 
And  now  with  noiseless  step  sweet  Memory  comes, 
And  leads  me  gently  through  her  twilight  realms. 
What  poet's  tuneful  lyre  has  ever  sung, 
Or  delicatest  pencil  e'er  portrayed 
The  enchanted  shadowy  land  where  Memory  dwells? 
It  has  its  valleys,  cheerless,  lone  and. drear, 
Dark-shaded  by  the  mournful  cypress  tree. 
And  vet  its  sunlit  mountain-tops  are  bathed 
In  heaven's  own  blue.     Upon  its  craggy  cliffs, 
Kobecl  in  the  dreamy  light  of  distant  years, 
Are  clustered  joys  serene  of  other  days; 
Upon  its  gently-sloping  hillsides  bend 
The  weeping-willows  o'er  the  sacred  dust 
Of  dear  departed  ones ;  and  yet  in  that  land 
Where'er  our  footsteps  fall  upon  the  shore, 
The}-  that  were  sleeping  rise  from  out  the  dust 
Of  death's  long,  silent  years,  and  round  us  stand, 
As  erst  they  did  before  the  prison  tomb 
Received  their  clay  within  its  voiceless  halls. 
The  heavens  that  bend  above  that  land  are  hung 
With  clouds  of  various  hues:  some  dark  and  chill, 
Surcharged  with  sorrow,  cast  their  sombre  shade 
Upon  the  sunny,  joyous  land  below; 
Others  are  floating  through  the  dreamy  air; 
White  as  the  falling  snow  their  margins  tinged 
With  gold  and  crimson  hues;  their  shadows  fall 
Upon  the  flowery  meads  and  sunny  slopes, 
Soft  as  the  shadows  of  an  angel's  wing. 
When  the  rough  battle  of  the  day  is  done, 
And  evening's  peace  falls  gently  on  the  heart, 
I  bound  away  across  the  noisy  years, 


HISTORY.  73 

Unto  the  utmost  verge  of  Memory's  land, 

Where  earth  and  sky  in  dreamy  distance  meet, 

And  Memory  dim  with  dark  oblivion  joins; 

Where  woke  the  first-remembered  sounds  that  fell 

Upon  the  ear  in  childhood's  early  morn ; 

And  wandering  thence,  along  the  rolling  years, 

I  see  the  shadow  of  my  former  self 

Gliding  from  childhood  up  to  man's  estate. 

The  path  of  youth  winds  down  through  many  a  vale 

And  on  the  brink  of  many  a  dread  abyss, 

From  out  whose  darkness  comes  no  ray  of  light, 

Save  that  a  phantom  dances  o'er  the  gulf, 

And  beckons  toward  the  verge.     Again  the  path 

Leads  o'er  a  summit  where  the  sunbeams  fall; 

And  thus  in  light  and  shade,  sunshine  and  gloom, 

Sorrow  and  joy,  this  life-path  leads  along. 

Williams  Quarterly. 


HISTORY. 
The  Battle  of  History. 

133.  After  the  battle  of  arms  comes  the 
battle  of  history. 

Tlie  Province  of  History  ,  Williams  Quarterly. 
"What  History  Is. 

134.  History  is  but  the  unrolled  scroll  of 
prophecy.  lbidm 

The  Rewriting  of  History. 

135.  The   developments  of  statistics  are 
causing  history  to  be  rewritten. 

House,  of  Representatives. 


74  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

The  World's  History. 

136.  The   world's    history   is    a    divine 
poem  of  which  the  history  of  every  nation  is 
a  canto  and  every  man  a  word.     Its  strains 
have  been  pealing  along  down  the  centuries, 
and  though  there  have  been  mingled  the  dis 
cords  of  warring  cannon  and  dying  men,  yet 
to  the  Christian  philosopher  and  historian  — 
the  humble  listener  —  there  has  been  a  di 
vine  melody  running  through  the  song  which 
speaks  of  hope  and  halcyon  days  to  come. 

Tke  Province  of  History,  Williams  Quarterly. 
The  Lesson  of  History- 

137.  The    lesson    of    history    is    rarely 
learned  by  the  actors   themselves,  especially 
when  they  read   it  by  the  fierce   and  dusky 
light  of  war,  or  amid  the  deeper  shadows  of 
those  sorrows  which  war  brings  to  both. 

House  of  Representatives,  Aug.  6,  1876. 
God  in  History. 

138.  Theologians  in  all  ages  have  looked 
out   admiringly  upon  the    material   universe 
and   from   its    inanimate    existences    demon 
strated  the  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of 
God  ;  but  we  know  of  no  one  who  has  demon 
strated  the  same  attributes  from  the  history 
of  the  human  race. 


HISTORY.  75 

The  Lights  of  History. 

139.  All    along    the   dim    centuries    are 
gleaming  lamps  which  mind  has  lighted,  and 
these  are  revealing  to  him  (the  historian)  the 
path  which  humanity  has  trod. 

Truth  in  History. 

140.  The  cause  that  triumphs  in  the  field 
does  not  always  triumph  in  history. 

House  oj  Representatives,  Aug.  6, 1876. 
The  Historian's  "Work. 

141.  Till  recently  the    historian  studied 
nations  in  the   aggregate,  and  gave  us  only 
the  stories  of  princes,  dynasties,  sieges,  and 
battles ;  of   the   people  themselves,  the  great 
social  body  with  life,  growth,  forces,  elements, 
and  laws  of   its  own,  —  he  told  us  nothing. 
Now  statistical   inquiry  leads    him    into   the 
hovels,  homes,  workshops,   mines,  fields,  pris 
ons,  hospitals,  and  all    places  where    human 
nature  displays  its  weakness  and  its  strength. 
In  these  explorations  he  discovers  the  seeds 
of  national  growth  and  decay,  and   thus  be 
comes  the  prophet  of  his  generation. 

House  of  Representatives,  June  8,  1866. 


76  GARFl ELD'S    WORDS. 


THE   PRESS. 
A  Weapon  of  Civilization. 

142.  The  printing  press  is  without  doubt 
the  most  powerful  weapon  with  which   man 
has  ever  armed  himself  for  the  fight  against 
ignorance    and   oppression.     But   it  was    not 
free  born.     It  was  invented  at  a  period  when 
all    the  functions   of   government   were  most 
widely  separated  from   the  people,  when  se 
crecy,  diplomacy,  and  intrigue  were  the  chief 
elements  of  statesmanship. 

Address  before  the  Ohio  Editorial  Association,  July  11,  1878. 
The  Martyrs  of  the  Press. 

143.  In  the  long,  fierce  struggle  for  free 
dom  of  opinion,  the  press,  like   the   church, 
counted  its  martyrs  by  thousands.  ibid. 

The  First  Duty  of  the  Press. 

144.  I  may  not  express  the  opinion  of  the 
majority,  but  certainly  it  is  my  own,  that  the 
first  and  greatest  demand  which   the  public 
makes  of  editors  is,  that  they  shall  obtain  and 
publish  all  the  news,  that  they  shall  print  a 
veritable  and  intelligible  record  of  important 
current  events.     Rather  than  to  weaken,  neg 
lect,  or  falsify  this,  it  were  better  that  every 


HISTORY.  11 

other  feature   of  the   newspapers   should   be 
abandoned.  ^id. 

Free  Criticism. 

145.  I  hold  it  equally  necessary  to  liberty 
and  good  government  that  the  press  should 
comment  with  the  utmost  freedom  upon  pub 
lic    acts    and    opinions   of  all  men  who  hold 
positions  of  public  trust.  ibid. 

Unjust  Criticism. 

146.  Unjust   criticism    and  false   accusa 
tions,  are,  in  the  long  run,  more  injurious  to 
the  press  than  to  its  victims.  ibid. 

The  Men  of  the  Press. 

147.  It  belongs  to  the  honor  of  the  press 
to  have  developed  within  the  past  few  years 
as  gallant  a  body  of  men,  of  as  bright  intelli 
gence  as  the  world  knows  in  any  profession. 

ibid. 


Independent  Journalism. 

148.  If  independent  journalism  means 
freedom  from  the  domination  of  patronage, 
wealth,  or  comiption,  freedom  from  party 
dictation,  all  good  men  will  applaud  it. 


78  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

The  Duty  of  the  Journalist. 

149.  Let  the  journalist  defend  the  doc 
trines  of  the  party  which  he  approves,  let 
him  criticize  and  condemn  the  party  which  he 
does  not  approve,  reserving  always  his  right 
to  applaud  his  opponents  or  censure  his 
friends,  as  the  truth  may  require,  and  he  will 
be  independent  enough  for  a  free  country. 


POWER. 
The  Exhibition  of  Power. 

150.  Power  exhibits  itself  under  two  dis 
tinct  forms  —  strength  and  force,  —  each  pos 
sessing  peculiar  qualities  and  each  perfect  in 
its  own  sphere.     Strength  is  typihed  by  the 
oak,  the  rock,  the  mountain.     Force   embod 
ies   itself   in   the   cataract,  the    tempest,  and 
the  thunder-bolt. 

Great  Powers. 

151.  The   possession  of  great  powers  no 
doubt  carries  with  it  a  contempt  for  mere  ex 
ternal  Show.  Oration  on  Miss  Booth. 


TR  UTIL  —  FREEDOM.  7  9 


TRUTH. 
The  Universality  of  Truth. 

152.  Truth  is  so  related  and   correlated 
that  no  department  of   her   realm  is  wholly 
isolated. 

The  Food  of  the  Spirit. 

153.  Truth  is  the  food  of  the  human  spirit, 
which  could  not  grow  in  its  majestic  propor 
tions  without  clearer  and  more  truthful  views 
of  God  and  his  universe. 


FREEDOM. 
The  Safety  of  Liberty. 

154.  Liberty  can  be  safe  only  when  suf 
frage  is  illuminated  by  education. 

Liberty's  "Weakness. 

155.  For  a  man  to  feel  that  every  impulse 
for    laudable  ambition   must  be  strangled  at 
its  birth,   that  like  fabled  Enceladus  lie  has 
been  rived  by  the  thunder-bolt  of  power  and 
crushed  beneath  the  mountain  of  its  strength, 
is  more  than  this  human  nature  of  ours  can 


80  GARFIELD'S    \YORDS. 

endure.  What  wonder,  then,  that  ever  and 
anon,  when  freedom  turns  the  weary  side  — 
the  fires  of  devouring  vengeance  burst  forth 
and  shake  the  fabrics  of  the  old  world,  till 
tyrants  chatter  on  their  gilded  thrones  in 
idiotic  terror.  At  such  moments,  freedom 
may  seem  to  have  triumphed  there,  but  when 
the  fury  of  the  tempest  is  past,  she  lies  bleed 
ing —  Samson-like  —  beneath  the  ruin  she  has 
•wrought. 

Freedom's  Soul. 

156.  Equality,  the  informing  soul  of  free 
dom  ! 

The  Foundations  of  English  Liberty. 

157.  English  liberty  to-day  rests   not  so 
much  on  the  government  as  on  those  rights 
which  the  people  have  wrested  from  the  gov 
ernment.    The  rights  of  the  Englishman  out 
number  the  rights  of  the  Englishman's  king. 

The  Language  of  Freedom. 

158.  Poetry  is  the  language  of  freedom. 

Obstacles  to  Freedom. 

159.  Freedom  can  never  yield  its  fullness 
of  blessings  so  long  as  the  law  or  its  admin- 


LAW  AND   ORDER.  81 

istration  places  the  smallest  obstacle  in  the 
pathway  of  any  virtuous  citizen. 

"What  Freedom  is. 

160.  Liberty  is  no  negation.     It  is  a  sub 
stantive,  tangible  reality. 

House  of  Representatives,  Jan.  13,  1865. 


LAW   AND   ORDER. 
Order  in  the  Universe. 

161.  Mankind  have  been  slow  to  believe 
that  order    reigns  in  the    universe,  that  the 
world  is  a  Cosmos,  not  a  chaos. 

The  Reign  of  Law. 

162.  The  assertion  of  the  reign  of   law 
has  been    stubbornly  resisted  at  every  step. 
The    divinities  of    heathen   superstition  still 
linger  in  one  form  or  another  in  the  faith  of 
the  ignorant ;  and  even  many  intelligent  men 
shrink   from   the    contemplation    of    one    su 
preme  will  acting  regularly,  not  fatuitously, 
through    laws    beautiful   and    simple,  rather 
than  through  a   fitful    and  capricious  Provi 
dence. 

6 


82  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

RAILROADS. 
Kailroads  and  the  People. 

163.  The    American    people   have   done 
much  for  the  locomotive,  and  the  locomotive 
has  done  much  for  them. 

Speech  on  the  Railway  Problem,  June  20,  1S74. 

The  Value  of  Railroads. 

164.  Imagine  if  you  can  what  would  hap 
pen  if  to-morrow  morning   the  railway  loco 
motive  and  its  corollary,  the    telegraph,  were 
blotted    from    the    earth.      To  what    humble 
proportions  mankind  would  be  compelled  to 
scale  down  the  great  enterprises  they  are  now 
pushing  forward  with  such  ease.  2bid. 

The   Law  and  the  Locomotive. 

165.  The  national   Constitution   and   the 
Constitutions  of  most  of  the  States  were  formed 
before  the  locomotive  existed,  and,  of  course, 
no  special  provisions  were  made  for  its  con 
trol.     Are  our  institutions  strong  enough  to 
stand  the  shock  and  strain  of  this  new  force  ? 
I  fail  to  believe  that  the  genius  and  energy 
that  have  developed   these  new  and  tremen 
dous  forces  will  fail  to  make  them  not  the 
masters,  but  the  faithful  servants  of  society. 

Rid. 


RAILROADS.  83 

The  Work  of  the  Railroad. 

166.  The  railroad   lias  not  only  brought 
onr  people  and  their  industries  together,  but 
it  has  carried  civilization  into  the  wilderness, 
has  built  up  the  states  and  territories,  which 
but  for  its  power  would  have  remained  deserts 
for  centuries  to  come.  ibid. 

A  Force  in  Civilization. 

167.  The  railroad  has  played  a  most  im 
portant  part  in  the  recent  movement  for  the 
unification  and  preservation  of  nations,     ibid. 

The  Coming  Conflict. 

168.  It  will  be  unworthy  of  our  age  and 
of  us  if  we  make  the  discussion  of  this  sub 
ject  a  mere  warfare  against  men.  ibid. 

The  Value  of  a  Solution. 

169.  Its  solution  will  open  the  way  to  a 
solution  of  a  whole  chapter  of  similar  ques 
tions  that  relate  to  the  conflict  between  capi 
tal  and  labor.  ibid. 


8t  GAJKFI  ELD'S    WORDS. 

COMMERCE  AND  INDUSTRY. 
Industry. 

170.  Wherever  a  ship  plows  the  sea,  or 
a  plow  furrows   the  field ;    wherever  a  mine 
yields  its  treasure ;  wherever  a  ship  or  a  rail 
road  train  carries  freight  to  market ;  wher 
ever  the  smoke   of  the   furnace  rises,  or  the 
clang  of  the  loom  resounds  ;  even  in  the  lonely 
garret  where  the  seamstress  plies   her  busy 
needle,  —  there  is  industry. 

House  of  Representatives,  April  1,  1870. 
Commerce. 

171.  Commerce  links  all  mankind  in  one 
common   brotherhood  of   mutual  dependence 
and  interests,  and  thus  creates  that  unity  of 
our  race  which    makes  the  resources    of   all 
the  property  of  each  and  every  member. 

Ibid. 


STATISTICS. 
The  Birth  of  Statistics. 

172.  The  word  "statistics"  itself  did  not 
exist  until  1749,  whence  we  date  the  begin 
ning  of  a  new  science  on  which  modern  legis- 


SCIENCE.  85 

lation  must  be  based,  in  order  to  be  per 
manent.  The  treatise  of  Achenwall,  the 
German  philosopher  who  originated  the  word, 
laid  the  foundation  of  many  of  the  greatest 
reforms  in  modern  legislation. 

House  of  Representatives,  April  6,  1809. 


What  Statistics  are. 

173.  Statistics  are  State  facts,  facts  for  the 
consideration  of  statesmen,  such  as  they  may 
not  neglect  with  safety.  ibid. 

What  Statistics  did. 

174.-  Without  the  aid  of  statistics,  that 
most  masterly  chapter  of  human  history,  the 
third  of  Macaulay's  first  volume,  could  never 
have  been  written. 

House  of  Representatives,  June  8,  1866. 


SCIENCE. 
The  Scientific  Spirit. 

175.  The  scientific  spirit  has  cast  out  the 
demons  and  presented  us  with  nature,  clothed 
in  her  right  mind  and  living  under  the  reign 
of  law.  It  has  given  us  for  the  sorceries  of 
the  alchemist,  the  beautiful  laws  of  chemis- 


86  GARF/ ELD'S    WORDS. 

try ;  for  the  dreams  of  the  astrologer,  the  sub 
lime  truths  of  astronomy  ;  for  the  wild  visions 
of  cosmogony,  the  monumental  records  of  ge 
ology  ;  for  the  anarchy  of  diabolism,  the  laws 

Of  God.  Ibid. 

A  Resolution. 

176.  We  no  longer  attribute  the  untimely 
death  of  infants  to  the  sin  of  Adam,  but  to 
bad  nursing  and  ignorance.  ibid. 

Modern  Predictions. 

177.  We  no  longer  hope  to  predict  the 
career  and  destiny  of  a  human  being  by  study 
ing  the  conjunction  of  the  planets  that  pre 
sided  at  his  birth.     We  study  rather  the  laws 
of  life  within  him  and  the  elements  and  forces 
of  nature  and  society  around  him.  ibid. 

The  Science  of  Statistics. 

178.  The  science  of  statistics  is  of  recent 
date,  and  like  many  of  its  sister  sciences  owes 
its  origin  to  the  best  and  freest  impulses  of 
modern  civilization. 

House  of  Representatives,  Dec.  16,  1869. 


PART   II.  — WORDS    PATRIOTIC. 

The  sentences  that  are  included  under  this  head  bear,  perhaps, 
a  closer  relation  to  our  institutions  and  our  national  glories  than 
do  those  that  have  preceded  them. 


THE   POWER   OF   ELOQUENCE. 

ONE  of  the  most  celebrated  sayings  of  the 
late  President  was  uttered  in  the  first  hours 
of  the  wild  fever  that  followed  the  death  of 
President  Lincoln.  Fifty  thousand  excited 
men  crowded  around  the  Exchange  Building 
in  Wall  Street  to  hear  how  the  President 
died.  So  wrought  up  were  the  listeners  that 
two  men  who  ventured  to  say  that  Lincoln 
ought  to  have  been  shot,  lay  bleeding,  dying 
upon  the  pavement.  This  fired  the  vengeance 
of  the  crowd.  Suddenly  a  shout  arose,  "  The 
World  !  "  "  The  office  of  the  World  !  "  and 
ten  thousand  men  faced  in  the  direction  of 
that  office.  It  was  a  critical  moment.  To 
what  lengths  of  destructiveness  the  crowd 
might  go,  no  one  could  foresee.  Police  and 


88  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

military  would  have  availed  little  or  arrived 
too  late.  Just  at  this  juncture  a,  man  stepped 
forward  with  a  small  flag  in  his  hand,  and 
beckoned  to  the  crowd.  kl  Another  telegram 
from  Washington,"  and  the  crowd  hushed 
into  eager  silence.  Then,  in  the  awful  still 
ness  of  the  crisis,  taking  advantage  of  the 
hesitation  of  the  half-mad  men,  a  right  arm 
was  lifted  skyward,  and  a  voice,  clear  and 
steady,  loud  and  distinct,  uttered  these  words 
—  which  instantly  hushed  the  angry  human 
sea,  and  brought  men  face  to  face  again  with 
their  reasons:  — 

179.  Fellow-citizens  !     Clouds  and  dark 
ness  are  round  about  Him  !     His   pavilion  is 
dark   waters   and   thick  clouds  of  the  skies ! 
Justice  and  judgment  are  the  establishment 
of  His  throne  !     Mercy  and  truth  shall  go  be 
fore  His  face  !     Fellow-citizens  !   God  reigns, 
and    the    Government    at    Washington    still 
lives  ! 

The  Golden  Thread  of  Progress. 

180.  Throughout   the   whole   web  of  na 
tional  existence  we  trace  the  golden  thread  of 
human  progress  toward  a  higher  and  better 
estate. 


HERE  AND   THERE.  89 

Heroes. 

181.  Heroes  did  not  make  our  liberties, 
they  but  reflected  and  illustrated  them. 

Supreme  Law. 

182.  If  the   Supreme   Court   of  Hercula- 
iieum  or  Pompeii  hud  been   in  session  when 
the  fiery  rain  overwhelmed  those  cities,  its  au 
thority  would  have  been  suddenly  usurped  and 
overthrown,  but  I   question  the  propriety  of 
calling  that  law  which,  in  its  very  nature,  is  a 
destruction  or  suspension  of  all  law. 

Supreme  Court,  L.  P.  Milligan  Case 
Our  Legacy. 

183.  Let  us  seek  liberty  and  peace  under 
the   law ;  and,  following  the  pathway  of  our 
fathers,  preserve  the  great  legacy  they  havo 
committed  to  our  keeping. 

The  Bight  of  Private  Judgment. 

184.  The  right   of    private  judgment  is 
absolute  in  every  American  citizen. 

Warren,  Sept.  19, 1874. 

Our  People. 

185.  If  our  people  are  not  educated  in  tho 
school  of  virtue  and  integrity  they  will   bo 


90  GARFIEL&S    WORDS. 

educated  in  the  school  of  vice  and  iniquity. 
We  are  therefore  afloat  on  the  sweeping  cur 
rent  :  if  we  make  no  effort  we  go  down  with 
it  to  the  saddest  of  destinies. 

House  of  Representatives,  June  8,  1866. 
National  Advancement. 

186.  It  is  only  by  persistent  effort  that  we 
make  headway  and  advancement  in  civiliza 
tion.  Ibid. 

Bights  of  the  American  People. 

187.  It  is  the  right  of  the  American  peo 
ple  to  know  the  necessities   of  the  republic 
when  they  are  called  upon  to  make  sacritices 
for  it. 

The  Farmer. 

188.  Is  it  not  of  more  consequence  to  do 
something  for  the  farmer  of  the  future  than 
for  the  farm  of  to-day  ? 

The  Servant  of  his  Country. 

189.  The  man  who  wants  to  serve  his  coun 
try  must  put  himself  in  the  line  of  the  leading 
thought,  and  that  is  the  restoration  of  busi 
ness,  trade,  commerce,  industry,  science,  polit 
ical  economy,  hard  money,  and  honest  pay- 


HERE  AND   THERE.  91 


ment  of  all  obligations  ;  and  the  man  who  can 
add  anything  in  the  direction  of  the  accom 
plishment  of  any  of  these  purposes  is  a  public 
benefactor. 

The  Laws. 

190.  Here   is   the    volume  of   our   laws. 
More  sacred  than  the  twelve  tables  of  Rome. 
This  rock  of   the    law  rises  in    monumental 
grandeur  alike  above  the  people  and  the  Pres 
ident,  above  the  courts,  above  Congress,  com 
manding  everywhere  reverence  and  obedience 
to  its  supreme  authority. 

Voluntary  Enterprise. 

191.  There  is  another  force  even  greater 
than  that  of  the  State  and  the   local  govern 
ments.     It  is  the  force  of  private  voluntary 
enterprise,  that  force  which  has  built  up  the 
multitude  of  private   schools,  academies,  and 
colleges   throughout    the   United  States,  not 
always   wisely,  but   always  with   enthusiasm 
and  wonderful  energy. 

House  of  Representatives,  Feb.  6,  1872. 
The  Treasures  of  American  Souls. 

192.  I  love  to  believe  that  no  heroic  sacri 
fice  is  ever  lost ;  that  the  characters  of  men  are 


92  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

moulded  and  inspired  by  what  their  fathers 
have  done  ;  that,  treasured  up  in  American 
souls  are  all  the  unconscious  influences  of  the 
great  deeds  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  from 
Agincourt  to  Bunker  Hill. 

American  Honor- 

193.  Let  no  one  tarnish  his  well-earned 
honor  by  any  act  unworthy  an  American  sol 
dier.     Remember   your   duties    as  American 
citizens,  and  sacredly  respect  the  rights  and 
property  of  those  with  whom  you  may  como 
in  contact.     Let  it  not  be  said  that  good  men 
dread  the  approach  of  an  American  army. 

Proclamation  to  t/ie  Soldiers  after  the  Battle  of  Middle  Creek,  1861. 
The  Perils  of  a  Nation. 

194.  A  brave  nation,  like  a  brave  man, 
desires  to  see  and   measure  the  perils  which 

threaten    it.  House  of  Representatives,  June  21,  ISM. 

National  Bravery. 

195.  The   people    of   this    country    have 
shown,  by  the  highest  proofs  human  nature 
can  give,  that  wherever  the  path  of  duty  and 
honor  may  lead,  however  steep  and  rugged  it 
may  be,  they  are  ready  to  walk  in  it. 


HERE  AND   THERE.  93 

National  Passion. 

196.  There  is  passion  enough  in  the  coun 
try  to  run   a  steam-engine  in   every  village, 
and  a  spirit  of  proscription  which  keeps  pace 
with  the  passion. 

The  Labor  of  the  People. 

197.  The  best  thing  in  Patterson,  and  the 
best  thing   in   this  republic  next  to   liberty, 
is  the  labor  of  our  people. 

Speech  at  Patterson,  Aug.  7,  1880. 
Our  Inheritance. 

198.  Shall   we    regard    with   indifference 

o 

the  great  inheritance  which  cost  our  sires 
their  blood,  because  we  find  in  their  gift  an 
admixture  of  imperfection  and  evil  ?  Surely 
there  is  good  enough,  in  the  contemplation 
of  which  every  patriotic  heart  may  say,  "  God  f 

bless  my  own,  my  native  land."  / 

The  Atlantic. 

199.  The  Atlantic  is   still  the  great  his-    / 
toric  sea.     Even  in  its  sunken  wrecks  might 
be  read  the  record  of  modern  nations.     Who 
shall   sny   that   the  Pacific  will   not  yet  be 
come  the  great  historic  sea  of  the  future  — 
the  vast  amphitheatre  around  which  shall  sit 


94  GARFl ELD'S    WORDS. 

in  majesty  and  power  the  two  Americas,  Asia, 
Africa,  and  the  chief  colonies  of  Europe.  God 
forbid  that  the  waters  of  our  national  life 
should  ever  settle  to  the  dead  level  of  a  wave- 
less  calm.  It  would  be  the  stagnation  of 
death,  the  ocean  grave  of  individual  liberty. 

National  Discipline. 

200.  I  look  forward  with  joy  and  hope  to 
the  day  when  our  brave  people,  one  in  heart, 
one  in  their  aspirations  for  freedom  and  peace, 
shall  see  that  the  darkness  through  which  we 
have    traveled  was  but  a  part  of   that  stern 
but  beneficent  discipline  by  which  the  great 
Disposer  of  events  has  been  leading  us  on  to 
a  higher  and  nobler  national  life. 

National  Perpetuity. 

201.  The  hope  of  our  national  perpetuity 
\          rests   upon   that   perfect   individual   freedom 

\        which  shall  forever  keep  up  the  circuit  of  per- 
\       petual  change. 

\ 

Our  Duty. 

202.  It  is  the  high  privilege  and  sacred 
duty  of  those  now  living  to  educate  their  suc 
cessors  and  fit  them  by  intelligence  and  vir 
tue  for  the   inheritance  which  awaits  them. 


HERE  AND   THERE.  95 

In  this  beneficent  work  sections  and  races 
should  be  forgotten  and  partisanship  should 
be  unknown.  Let  our  people  find  a  ne\v 
meaning  in  the  divine  oracle,  which  declares 
that  "a  little  child  shall  lead  them,"  fur  our 
little  children  will  soon  control  the  destinies 

Of  the  Republic.  Inaugural  Address. 

The  Final  Reconciliation. 

203.  We  may  hasten,  or  we  may  retard, 
but  we  cannot  prevent  the  final. reconciliation. 
Is  it  not  possible  for  us  now  to  make  a  truce 
with  time   by  anticipating  and   accepting  its 
inevitable  verdict?     Enterprises  of  the  high 
est  importance  to  our  moral  and  material  well- 
being  invite  us  and  offer  ample  scope  for  the 
employment  of  our  best  powers.     Let  all  our 
people,  leaving  behind  them  the  battle-fields  of 
dead  issues,  move  forward,  and  in  the  strength 
of    liberty  and  the   restored  Union,  win  the 
grander  victories  of  peace.  ibid. 

Campaign  Discipline. 

204.  The  campaign  has  been  fruitful  to 
me  in  the  discipline  that  comes  from  endur 
ance  and   patience.     I   hope   defeat  will   not 
sour  me,  nor  success  disturb  the  poise  which 
I  have  sought  to  gain  by  the  experiences  of 


96  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

life.    From  this  edge  of  the  conflict  I  give  you 
my  hand  and  heart,  as  in  all  the  other  days  of 

OUr  friendship.  Private  Letter,  Xov.  1,  1SSO. 

A  Great  Age. 

205.  This  is  really  a  great  time  to  live  in, 
if  any  of  us  can  only  catch  the  cue  of  it. 

Private  Letter,  Feb.  16,  1801. 

The  Need  of  the  Hour. 

206.  We  want  a  man  who,  standing  on  a 
mountain  height,  sees  all  the  achievements  of 
our  past  history,  and  carries  in  his  heart  the 
memory  of    all  its  glorious    deeds,  and  who, 
looking  forward,  prepares  to  meet  the  labor 
and  the  dangers  to  come. 

Speech  Nominating  Hon.  John  Sherman. 


Useful  Powers. 

207.  We  should  enlist  both  the  pride  and 
the  selfishness   of  the  people  on  the  side  of 
good  order  and  peace. 

Dishonor  too  Costly  for  the  People. 

208.  The  people  of  the  United  States  can 
afford  to  make  any  sacrifice  for  their  country, 
and  the  history  of    the  last  war   is   proof  of 
their  willingness  ;    but  the    humblest  citizen 


HERE  AND   THERE.  97 

cannot  afford  to  do  a  menu  or  a  dishonorable 
thing  to  save  even  this  glorious  Republic. 

Speech  on  the  Curraicy,  July  15,  1868. 
Citizenship. 

209.  Shall  we  enlarge  the  boundaries  of 
citizenship  and  make  no  provision  to  increase 
the  intelligence  of  the  citizen  ? 

Bureau  of  Education  $p<fch,  July  8,  1S66. 
National  Industries. 

210.  When   we    recognize    the    fact  that 
artisans  and  their  products  are  essential  to  the 
well-being  of  our  country,  it  follows  that  there 
is  no  dweller  in  the  humblest  cottage  on  our 
remotest  frontier  who  has  not  a  deep  personal 
interest  in  the  legislation  that  shall  promote 
these  great  national  industries. 

Liberty  and  Peace. 

211.  Let  us  seek  liberty  and  peace,  under 
the  law  ;   and,  following  the  pathway  of  our 
fathers,  preserve  the  great  legacy  they  have 
committed  to  our  keeping. 

Native  Talent. 

212.  For  every  village,  state,  and  nation, 
there  is  an  aggregate  of  native  talent  which 

T 


98  GARFl ELD'S    WORDS. 

God  has  given,  and  by  which,  together  with 
his  Providence,  he  leads  that  nation  on,  and 
thus  leads  the  world.  In  the  liHit  of  these 

O 

truths  we  affirm  that  no  man  can  understand 
the  history  of  any  nation,  or  of  the  world,  who 
does  not  recognize  in  it  the  power  of  God,  and 
behold  His  stately  goings  forth  as  He  walks 
among  the  nations.  It  is  His  hand  that  is 
moving  the  vast  superstructure  of  human  his 
tory,  and  though  but  one  of  the  windows  were 
unfurnished,  like  that  of  the  Arabian  palace, 
yet  all  the  powers  of  earth  could  never  com 
plete  it  without  the  aid  of  the  Divine  Ar 
chitect. 

The  Mississippi. 

213.  I  believe  the  time  will  come  when 
the  liberal-minded  statesmanship  of  this  coun 
try  will  devise  a  wise  and  comprehensive  sys 
tem,  that  will  harness  the  powers  of  this  great 
river  to  the  material  interests  of  America,  so 
that  not  only  all  the  people  who  live  on  its 
banks  and  the  banks  of  its  confluents,  but  all 
the  citizens  of  the  Republic,  whether  dwellers 
in  the  central  valley  or  on  the  slope  of  either 
ocean,  will  recognize  the  importance  of  pre 
serving  and  perfecting  this  great  natural  and 
material  bond  of  national  union  between  the 


OUR  FOREFATHERS.  99 

North  iincl  the  South,  —  a  bond  to  be  so 
strengthened  by  commerce  and  intercourse 
that  it  can  never  be  severed. 

Mississippi  River  Bill,  June  21,  1879. 
Sovereignty. 

214.  I  believe  that  no  man  will  ever  be 
able  to  chronicle  all  the  evils  that  have  re 
sulted  to  this  nation  from  the  abuse  of  the 
words  "  sovereign  "  and  u  sovereignty." 

Speech  against  the  Camden  and  Amboy  Railroad,  Marck  31,  1864. 


OUR   FOREFATHERS. 
The  Patrimony  of  the  Colonists. 

215.  Iii   their  struggle  with  the  forces  of 
nature,  the  ability  to    labor  was  the   richest 
patrimony  of  the  colonists. 

The  Sacrifice  for  Self-government. 

216.  We  cannot  overestimate  the  fervent 
love  of    liberty,  the  intelligent  courage,  and 
tho    saving    common-sense    with    which    our 
fathers   made  the    great   experiment  of   self- 
government.  Inaugural  Address.  . 


100  GARFJ ELD'S    WORDS. 

A  Great  Quality. 

217.  If  I  were  to  state  to-day  the  single 
quality  that  appears   to   me  most  admirable 
among  the  fathers  of  the  Revolution,  I  should 
say  it  was  this:   that  amidst  all  the  passions 
of  war,   waged    against    a    perfidious    enemy, 
from  beyond  the  sea,  aided  by  a  savage  enemy 
on  our  own  shores,  our  fathers  exhibited  so 
wonderful  a  restraint,  so  great  a  care  to  ob 
serve  the  forms  of  law,  to  protect  the  rights 
of    the  minority,  to  preserve  all  those  great 
rights  that  had  come  down  to  them  from   the 
common  law,  so  that  when  the}*  had  achieved 
their  independence  they  were  still  a  law-abid 
ing  people. 

Speech  accepting  the  Statues  of  Winthrop  and  Adams. 

Samuel  Adams. 

218.  I  doubt  if   any  man  equaled  Samuel 
Adams  in  formulating  and  uttering  the  fierce, 
clear,  and  inexorable  logic  of  the  Revolution. 

219.  The  men  who  pointed  out  the  path 
way  to  freedom  by  the  light  of  religion  as  well 
as   of   law,  were   the   foremost   promoters   of 
American  Independence.     And  of  these,  Ad 
ams  was  unquestionably  chief. 


OUR  FOREFATHERS.  101 


George  Washington.  ;       '.•;,;' 

220.  Eternity    alone   will   reveal    to   the 
human  race  its  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  peer 
less  and  immortal  name  of  Washington. 

221.  Hamilton  was  the  master  of  a  bril- 
linnt  style,  clear  and  bold  in  conception,  and 
decisive    in    execution.      Jefferson    was    pro 
foundly    imbued    with    a    philosophic    spirit, 
could    formulate   the    aspirations  of    a   brave 
and  free  people  in  all  the  graces  of  powerful 
rhetoric  ;  and  other  master-minds  of  that  pe 
riod  added  their  great  and  valuable  contribu 
tions  to  the  common  stock  ;  but,  whether  in 
the  camp  or  in   the  cabinet,  the  quality  that 
rose  above   all   the  other   great  gifts  of  that 
period  was  the  comprehensive  and   unerring 
judgment    of  Washington.     It  was   that  all- 
embracing  sense,  that  calmness  of  solid  judg 
ment  that   made  him  easily  chief.     Not  only 
the  first  of   his   age,  but   foremost    "  in    the 
foremost  files  of  time." 

The  Declaration  of  Independence. 

222.  The  great  doctrines  of  the  Declara 
tion  germinated  in  the  hearts  of  our  fathers, 
and  were  developed  under  the  new  influences 
of  this  wilderness  world,  by  the  same  subtlo 


.102  GARFIEL&S    WORDS. 

•  mystery  \vh:ch  brings  forth  the  rose  from  the 
germ  of  the  rose-tree.  Unconsciously  to 
themselves  the  great  truths  were  growing 
under  the  new  conditions,  until,  like  the  cen 
tury-plant,  they  blossomed  into  the  matchless 
beauty  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
whose  fruitage  increased  and  increasing  we 
enjoy  to-day. 


THE  GERMS  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 
The  Common  Defense. 

223.  We  provide  for  the  common  defense 
by  a  system  which  promotes  the  general  wel 
fare.  House  of  Representatives,  April  1,  1S70. 

The  Light  and  Life  of  the  Nation. 

224.  The  life  and  light  of  a  nation  are 
inseparable. 

The  Union  and  Congress. 

225.  The  Union  and  the   Congress  must 
share  the  same  fate.     They  must  rise  or  fall 
together. 

The  Germ  of  our  Institutions. 

226.  The  germ  of    our  political    institu- 


THE  GERMS  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION.  103 

tions,  the  primary  cell  from  which  they  were 
evolved,  was  in  the  New  England  town,  and 
the  vital  force,  the  informing  soul  of  the  town, 
was  the  town  meeting,  which  for  all  local  con 
cerns  was  king,  lords,  and  commons  in  one. 

The  Covenant. 

227.  While  the   Mayflower  was  passing 
Cape  Cod  and   seeking  an  anchorage,  in  the 
midst  of  the  storm,  her  brave  passengers  sat 
clown    in    the   little    cabin    and   drafted   and 
signed  a  covenant  which  contains  the  germ  of 
American  liberty.    How  familiar  to  the  Amer 
ican  habit  of  mind   are  these  declarations  of 
the  Pilgrim  covenant  of  1620. 

House  of  Repraentatives,  Dec.  17,  1876. 
Virginia  and  Massachusetts. 

228.  Virginia    and    Massachusetts    were 
the  two  focal   centres  from  which  sprang  the 
life-forces   of  this   Republic.     They  were,  in 
many  ways,  complements  of  each  other,  each 
supplying   what   the   other   lacked,  and   both 
uniting  to  endow  the  Republic  with  its  noblest 
and  most  enduring  qualities.  ibid. 

The  Will  of  the  Majority. 

229.  Peace,  liberty,  and  personal  security 


104  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

are  blessings  as  common  and  universal  as  sun 
shine  find  showers  and  fruitful  seasons  ;  and 
all  sprang  from  a  single  source,  —  the  princi 
ple  declared  in  the  Pilgrim  covenant  of  1G20, 
—  that  all  owed  due  submission  and  obedi 
ence  to  the  lawfully  expressed  will  of  the 
majority.  This  is  not  one  of  the  doctrines  of 
our  political  system,  it  is  the  system  itself.  It 
is  our  political  firmament,  in  which  all  other 
truths  are  set,  as  stars  in  heaven.  It  is  the 
encasing  air,  the  breath  of  the  nation's  life. 

Our  Theory  of  Law. 

23O.  Our  theory  of  law  is  free  consent. 
That  is  the  granite  foundation  of  our  whole 
superstructure.  Nothing  in  the  Republic  can 
be  law  without  consent,  — the  free  consent  of 
the  House ;  the  free  consent  of  the  Senate ; 
the  free  consent  of  the  Executive ;  or,  if  he 
refuse  it,  the  free  consent  of  two  thirds  of  these 

bodies.  Extra  Session,  March  29, 1879. 


THE   CONSTITUTION. 

The  Idea  of  the  Constitution. 

231.   The  men  who  created  this  Constitu 
tion   also  set  it  in   operation,  and   developed 


OUR  INSTITUTIONS.  105 

their  own  idea  of  its  character.  That  idea 
was  unlike  any  other  that  then  prevailed  npnn 
the  earth.  They  made  the  general  welfare  «.f 
the  people  the  great  source  and  foundation  of 
the  common  defense. 


Absolute  Power. 

232.  It  was  the  purpose  of  onr  fathers  to 
lodge  absolute  power  nowhere;  to  leave  each 
department     independent     within     its    own 
sphere  ;  vet,  in  every  case,  responsible  for  the 
exercise  of  its  discretion.  Atlantic  Monthly. 

Boundaries  of  Freedom. 

233.  Under  this  Constitution  boundaries 
of  freedom  have   been   enlarged,  the  founda 
tions  of  order  and  peace  have  been  strength 
ened,  and  the  growth  of  our  people  in  all  the 
better  elements  of  national  life  has  vindicated 
the  wisdom  of  the   founders  and   given   new 
hope  to  their  descendants.  inaugural  Address. 


OUR   INSTITUTIONS. 

National  Institutions. 

234.  It  matters  little  what  may  be  the 
forms  of  national  institutions,  if  the  life,  free 
dom,  and  growth  of  society  are  secured. 


106  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

An  Empire. 

235.  The   last    eight   decades   have    wit 
nessed  an  empire  spring  up  in  the  full  pan 
oply  of  lusty  life,  from  a  trackless  wilderness. 

Understanding  our  Institutions. 

236.  No  man  who  has  not  lived  among 
us  can   understand   one  thing  about  our  in 
stitutions;    no  man  who  has  been  born  and 
reared    under   monarchical   governments    can 
understand  the  vast  difference  between  theirs 
and  ours. 

Society. 

237.  There  is  no  horizontal  stratification 
of  society  in  this  country  like  the  rocks  in  the 
earth,  that  hold  one  class  down  below  forever- 
more,  and  let  another  come  to  the  surface  to 
stay  there  forever.     Our  stratification  is  like 
the  ocean,  where  every  individual  drop  is  free 
to  move,  and  where  from  the  sternest  depths 
of  the  mighty  deep  any  drop  may  come  up  to 
glitter  on  the  highest  wave  that  rolls. 

An  Army  of  Artisans. 

238.  It  was  the  manifest  intention  of  the 
founders   of    the  government  to  provide   for 
the  common  defense,  not  by  standing  armies 


OUR  INSTITUTIONS.  107 

alone,  but  by  raising  among  the  people  a 
greater  army  of  artisans,  whose  intelligence 
and  skill  should  powerfully  contribute  to  the 
safety  and  glory  of  the  nation. 

Letter  of  Acceptance. 
Our  Duties. 

239.  We  should  do  nothing  inconsistent 
with  the  spirit  and  genius  of  our  institutions. 
We  should  do  nothing  for  revenge,  but  every 
thing  for  security  ;  nothing  for  the  past;  ev 
erything  for  the  present  and  the  future. 

Difficult  Problems. 

240.  The  intelligence  and  national  spirit 
of  our  people  exhibit  their  capacity  for  deal 
ing  Avith  difficult  problems.     Those  who  saw 
the  terrible  elements  of  destruction  that  burst 
upon  us  twelve  years  ago  in  the  fury  of  the 
civil  war,  would   have  been   called  dreamers 
and  enthusiasts  had  they  predicted  that  1873 
would  witness  the  conflict  ended,  its  cause  an 
nihilated,  the  bitterness  and  hatred  it  occa 
sioned  nearly  gone,  and  the  nation  with  union 
and  unity  restored,  smiling  again  over  half  a 
million  soldiers'  graves ! 

The  Glory  of  our  Institutions. 

241.  Individuals  may  wear  for  a  time  the 


108  GARFl ELD'S    WORDS. 

glory  of  onr  institutions,  but  they  carry  it  not 
to  the  grave  with  them.  Like  rain-drops  from 
heaven,  they  may  pass  through  the  circle  of 
the  shining  bow  and  add  to  its  lustre,  but 
when  they  have  sunk  in  the  earth  again,  the 
proud  arch  still  spans  the  sky  and  shines 
gloriously  on. 

A  Cause  of  Alarm. 

242.  The  most  alarming  feature  of  our 
situation  is  the  fact  that  so  many  citizens  of 
high  character  and  solid  judgment  pay  but 
little  attention  to  the  sources  of  political 
power,  to  the  selection  of  those  who  shall 
make  their  laws.  The  clergy,  the  faculties  of 
colleges,  and  many  of  the  leading  business 
men  of  the  community,  never  attend  the  town 
ship  caucus,  the  city  primaries,  or  the  county 
conventions;  but  they  allow  the  less  intelli 
gent  and  the  more  selfish  and  corrupt  mem 
bers  of  the  community  to  make  the  slates  and 
"run  the  machine"  of  politics.  They  waib 
until  the  machine  has  clone  its  work,  and 
then,  in  surprise  and  horror  at  the  ignorance 
and  corruption  in  public  office,  sigh  for  the 
return  of  that  mythical  period  called  the 
u  better  and  purer  days  of  the  Republic." 

14 A  Century  in  Congress,"1  Atlantic  Monthly,  July,  1877. 


OUR  INSTITUTIONS.  109 

Industrial  Feudalism. 

243.  The  consolidation  of  our  great  indus 
trial  and   commercial   companies,  the    power 
they  wield,  and  the  relations  they  sustain   to 
the  State  and  to  the  industry  of  the  people, 
do  not  fall   far  short  of    Fourier's  definition 
of  commercial   or  industrial  feudalism.      The 
modern  barons,  more  powerful  than  their  mili 
tary  prototypes,  own   our  greatest  highways, 
levy   tribute    at   will    upon    all    our  vast    in 
dustries.      And,    as    the    old    feudalism    was 
finally  controlled   and   subordinated  only   by 
the  combined   efforts    of    the   kings  and   the 
people   of  the  free  cities  and    towns,  so   our 
modern  feudalism  can  be  subordinated  to  the 
public  good  onlv  by  the   great   body   of   the 
people,  acting  through  their  governments  by 
wise  and  just  laws. 

Speech  on  the  Railroad  Problem,  June  22,  1874. 

Our  Success. 

244.  Reviewing    the    whole    period,    we 
have  the  right  to  say  that  the  wisdom  of  our 
institutions  has  been  vindicated,  and  our  con 
fidence  in   their  stability  has   been  strength 
ened.      Legislation    has    been    directed    more 

O 

and  more  to  the  enlargement  of  private  rights 
and  the  promotion  of  the  interests  of  labor. 


110  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

It  lias  been  devoted  not  to  the  glory  of  a  dy 
nasty,  but  to  the  welfare  of  a  people.  Slav 
ery,  with  the  aristocracy  of  caste  which  it 
engendered,  and  the  degradation  of  labor 
which  it  produced,  has  disappeared.  With 
out  undue  exultation  we  may  declare  that 
the  bells  of  the  new  year 

"Iling  out  a  slowly  dying  cause, 

And  ancient  forms  of  party  strife; 
Ring  in  the  nobler  modes  of  life, 
With  sweeter  manners,  purer  laws." 

We  have  learned  the  great  lesson,  applicable 
alike  to  nations  and  to  men  :  — 

"Self-knowledge,  self-reverence,  self-control  — 
These  three  alone  lead  on  to  sovereign  power." 

Resumption  Speech,  Jan.  2,  1879. 


THE   REPUBLIC. 
The  Stability  of  the  Republic. 

245.  A  republic  can  wield  the  vast  en 
ginery  of  war  without  breaking  down  the 
safeguards  of  liberty  ;  can  suppress  insurrec 
tion  and  put  down  rebellion,  however  formi 
dable,  without  destroying  the  bulwarks  of  law ; 
can,  by  the  might  of  its  armed  millions,  pre 
serve  and  defend  both  nationality  and  liberty. 


THE  REPUBLIC.  Ill 

The  Origin  of  the  Republic. 

246.  We    have    seen   that   our    Republic 
differs  in  its  origin  from  all  the  monarchies 
of  the  world.     We  may  also  see  that  it  differs 
widely  from  all  other  republics  of  ancient  or 
modern    times.     These    all    centred    round   a 
conquering   hero  or   a   powerful  city,  —  ours 
round  a  principle.     In  the  brightest  days  of 
the  Grecian  Republic,  its  strength  and  glory 
rested  upon  the  life  and  fortunes  of  Pericles. 
In  the   old   Dutch   Republic  of   Holland   and 
the  later  establishments  of  modern  Germany, 
freedom  was  of  the  city  and  not  of  the  people. 
The    burghers    were   the    only  freemen,  and 
they  constituted  an  aristocracy  more  haughty 
and  imperious    than  the  hereditary  peers  of 
England.      The  peasants  of  the  rural  districts, 
the  toiling  thousands,  were  hardly  known  to 
the  government,  except  that  they  bore  many 
of    its    heavy  burdens.      But  here,  cities    are 
not  tyrannies,  and  freedom  in  her  best  estate 
is  found  in  the  green  fields  of   the  country, 
among  the  hardy  tillers  of  the  soil. 

Ravenna,  July  4,  13*30. 

Monarchy  vs.  Republic. 

247.  A    monarchy  is    more    easily    over 
thrown    than    a    republic,    because    its    sover- 


112  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

eig.it)7  is  concentrated,  and  a  single  blow,  if 
it  be  powerful  enough,  will  crush  it. 

Prli-ale  Letter,  Feb.  1C,  1861. 

The  Power  of  the  Citizen. 

243.  In  the  Old  World,  under  the  despot 
ism  of  Europe,  the  masses  of  ignorant  men, 
mere  inert  masses,  are  moved  upon  and  con 
trolled  by  the  intelligent  and  cultivated  aris 
tocracy.  But  in  this  Republic,  where  the 
government  rests  upon  the  will  of  the  people, 
every  man  has  an  active  power  for  good  and 
evil,  and  the  great  question  is,  will  he  think 
rightly  or  wrongly  ? 

House  of  Representatives,  June  8,  1S66. 
The  Do~ma  of  Divine  Kicht. 

249.  We  have  happily  escaped  the  dogma 
of  the  divino  right  of  kings.     Let  us  not  fall 
into  the  equally  pernicious  error  that  multi 
tude  is  divine  because  it  is  a  multitude. 

Vox  Populi  Vox  Dei. 

250.  It    is  only  when    the   people  speak 
truth  and  justice  that  their  voice  can  be  called 
"  the  voice  of  God." 

Personat  Ambition. 

251.  To  all  our  means  of  culture  is  added 


THE  NATION.  113 

that  powerful  incentive  to  personal  ambition 
which  springs  from  the  genius  of  our  govern 
ment.  The  pathway  to  honorable  distinction 
lies  open  to  all.  No  post  of  honor  so  high 
but  the  poorest  boy  may  hope  to  reach  it. 
It  is  the  pride  of  every  American,  that  many 
cherished  names,  at  whose  mention  our  hearts 
beat  with  a  quicker  bound,  were  worn  by  the 
sons  of  poverty,  who  conquered  obscurity  and 
became  fixed  stars  in  our  firmament. 


THE  NATION. 

The  Nation's  Life. 

252.  The  nation  has  a  life  of  its  own  as 
distinctly  defined  as  the  life  of  an  individual. 
The  signs  of  its  growth  and  the  periods  of  its 
development  make  the  issues  declare  them 
selves;   and   the   man  or   the  political    party 
that  does  not  discover  them,  has  not  learned 
the  character  of  the  nation's  life. 

Fanueil  Hall,  1873. 
The  Nation's  Purpose. 

253.  Methods  and  details  of  management 
are  of  slight  importance  in  comparison  with 
the  central  purpose  of  the  nation. 

House  of  Representatives,  Feb.,  1876. 
8 


114  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

The  Nation's  History. 

254.  It  is  well  to   know  the  history  of 
those  magnificent  nations  whose  origin  is  lost 
in  fable,  and  whose  epitaphs  were  written  a 
thousand  years  ago ;  but  if  we  cannot  know 
both,  it  is  far  better  to  study  the  history  of 
our  own   nation,  whose  origin  we  can  trace 
to  the  freest  and   noblest  aspirations  of   the 
human  heart. 

Territory. 

255.  After  all,  territory  is  but  the  body  of 
a  nation.     The  people  who  inhabit  its  hills 
and  valleys  are  its  soul,  its  spirit,  its  life.     In 
them  dwells  its  hope  of  immortality.    Among 
them,  if  anywhere,  are  to  be  found  its  chief 
elements  of  destruction. 

Repression  and  Expression. 

256.  There  are  two  classes  of  forces  whose 
action  and  reaction  determine  the  condition  of 
a  nation :    the   forces    of   repression  and    ex 
pression.     The  one  acts  from  without,  limits, 
curbs,  restrains.     The  other  acts  from  within, 
expands,    enlarges,    propels.       Constitutional 
forms,  statutory  limitations,  conservative  cus 
toms,  belong  to  the  first.     The  free  play  of 
individual  life,  opinion  and  action,  belong  to 
the  seeond.     If  these  forces  be  happily  bal- 


THE  NATION.  115 

anced,  if  there  be  a  wise  conservation  and 
correlation  of  both,  a  nation  may  enjoy  the 
double  blessing  of  progress  and  permanence. 

The  Supremacy  of  the  Nation. 

257.  The  supremacy  of  the  nation  and  its 
laws  should  be  no  longer  a  subject  of  debate. 
That    discussion,   which   for   half   a   century 
threatened  the   existence  of   the  Union,  was 
closed  at  last  in  the  high  court  of  war,  by  a 
decree  from  which  there   is  no  appeal :  that 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws  made  in  pursu 
ance  thereof  are  and  shall  continue  to  be  the 
supreme  law  of  the  hind,  binding  alike  upon 
the  States  and  the  people.  inaugural  Address. 

Facing  to  the  Front. 

258.  It   is    manifest  that   the    nation    is 
resolutely   facing    to    the   front,    resolved    to 
employ  its  best    energies   in  developing    the 
great   possibilities    of   the   future.      Sacredly 
preserving  whatever  has  been  gained  to  lib 
erty  and  good  government  during  the  century, 
our  people    are  determined   to  leave  behind 
them  all  those  bitter  controversies  concerning 
things  which  have  been    irrevocably  settled, 
and  the  further  discussion  of  which  can  only 
stir  up  strife  and  delay  the  onward  march. 

Ibul 


116  GARF1ELD-S    WORDS. 

The  Fountains  of  our  Strength. 

259.  The  fountain  of  our  strength   as    a 
nation  springs  from  the  private  life  and  the 
voluntary  efforts  of  forty-five  millions  of  peo 
ple.     Each  for  himself  confronts  the  problem 
of  life  and  amid  its  varied  conditions  develops 
the  forces  with  which  God  has  endowed  him. 
Meantime  the  nation  moves  on  in  its  great 
orbit  with  a  life  and  destiny  of  its  own,  each 
year    calling   to  its   aid    those   qualities  and 
forces  which  are  needed  for  its  preservation 
and  its  glory.     Now  it  needs  the  prudence  of 
the   counselor,  now  the  wisdom  of    the  law 
giver,  and  now  the  shield  of  the  warrior  to 
cover    its   heart    in    battle.     And   when    the 
hour  and  the  man  have  met,  and  the  needed 
work  has  been  done,  the  nation  crowns  her 
heroes  and  makes  them  her  own  forever. 

Oration  on  the  Death  of  O.  P.  Morton. 
The  Behavior  of  the  Nation. 

260.  The   behavior  of  a  great  nation  in 
the  administration  of  its  laws  at  a  critical  mo 
ment,  is  more  important  than  the  fate  of  any 
one  man  or  party.    \Ve  have  reached  the  place 
where  the  road  is  marked  by  no  footprint,  and 
we  must  make  a  direct  line  to  be  fit  to  follow 
after  we  are  dead.     It  is  only  at  such  times 


THE  NATION.  117 

that  the  domain  of  law  is  enlarged  and  the 
safeguard  of  liberty  is  increased.  I  confess 
to  you  that  I  do  not  feel  adequate  to  the  task  ; 
but  I  shall  do  my  best  to  point  out  a  worthy 
way  to  the  light  and  the  right. 

Private  Letter,  Jan.  4.,  1877. 
The  People  of  the  Republic. 

261.  The  people  of  a  republic  like   ours 
are  peculiarly  like  a  single  great  individual 
man,   full   of   passions  —  prejudices  often, — 
but  with  a  great  heart,   despising   anything 
like  show  or  pretense,  and  always  striving  for 
ward  in  a  general  right  direction. 

From  a  Private  Letter. 
Society. 

262.  Here  society  is  a  restless  and  surging 
sea.     The  roar  of  the  billows,  the  dash  of  the 
wave,  is  forever  in  our  ears.     Even  the  angry 
hoarseness  of  breakers  is  not  unheard.     But 
there  is  an   understratum  of  deep,  calm  sea, 
which  the  breath  of  the  wildest  tempest  can 
never    reach.     There    is,   deep    down    in    tho 
hearts  of  the  American  people,  a  strong  and 
abiding  love  of  our  country  and   its  liberty, 
which  no  surface-storms  of  passion  can  ever 
shake.     That  kind  of  instability  which  arises 


118  GAR  FIELD'S    WORDS. 

from  a  free  movement  and  interchange  of  po 
sition  among  the  members  of  society,  which 
brings  one  drop  up  to  glisten  for  a  time  in  the 
crest  of  the  highest  wave,  and  then  give  place 
to  another,  while  it  goes  down  to  mingle  a^ain 
with  the  millions  below  ;  such  instability  is 
the  surest  pledge  of  permanence.  On  such 
instability  the  eternal  fixedness  of  the  universe 
is  based.  Each  planet,  in  its  circling  orbit, 
returns  to  the  goal  of  its  departure,  and  on 
the  balance  of  these  wildly-rolling  spheres 
God  has  planted  the  broad  base  of  His  mighty 
works.  So  the  hope  of  our  national  perpe 
tuity  rests  upon  that  perfect  individual  free 
dom  which  shall  forever  keep  up  the  circuit 

Of    perpetual  Change.  Jlavenna,  July  4,  I860. 


THE   COHESION   OF   THE   REPUBLIC. 
Deciding  the  Election. 

263.  Not  here,  in  this  brilliant  circle 
where  fifteen  thousand  men  and  women  are 
assembled,  is  the  destiny  of  the  Republic  to 
be  decreed ;  not  here,  where  I  see  the  en 
thusiastic  faces  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty-six 
delegates  waiting  to  cast  their  votes  into  the 


THE  COHESION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.   119 

urn  and  determine  the  choice  of  their  party  ; 
but  by  four  million  Republican  firesides,  where 
the  thoughtful  fathers,  with  wives  and  chil 
dren  about  them,  with  the  calm  thoughts  in 
spired  by  love  of  home  and  love  of  country, 
with  the  history  of  the  past,  the  hopes  of  the 
future,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  great  men 
who  have  adorned  and  blessed  our  nation  in 
days  gone  by  —  there  God  prepares  the  ver 
dict  that  shall  determine  the  wisdom  of  our 
work  to-night.  Not  in  Chicago  in  the  heat  of 
June,  but  in  the  sober  quiet  that  comes  be 
tween  now  and  November,  in  the  silence  of 
deliberate  judgment,  will  this  great  question 

be    Settled.  Speech  Nominating  Hon.  John  Sherman. 

The  American  Citizen. 

264.  It  was  said  in  a  welcome  to  one  who 
came  to  England  to  be  a  part  of  her  glory  — 
and  all  the  nation  spoke  when  it  was  said,  — 

"Normans  and  Saxons  and  Danes  are  we, 
But  all  of  us  Danes  in  our  welcome  of  thee." 

And  we  say  to-night,  of  all  nations,  of  all  the 
people,  soldiers,  and  civilians,  there  is  one 
name  that  welds  us  all  into  one.  It  is  the 
name  of  American  citizen,  under  the  union 
and  under  the  glory  of  the  flag  that  led  us 
to  victory  and  to  pence. 

Washington,  November,  1880. 


120  GARF  JELL'S    WORDS. 

THE   SUFFRAGE. 
Suffrage  and  Safety. 

265.  Suffrage    and  Safety,  like   Liberty 
and  Union,  are  one  and  inseparable. 

Ravenna,  July  4,  I860. 
Violation  of  the  Suffrage. 

266.  To  violate  the  freedom  and  sanctity 
of  the  suffrage  is  more  than  an  evil  ;  it  is  a 
crime  which,  it'  persisted  in,  will  destroy  the 
government  itself.     Suicide  is  not  a  remedy. 
If  in  other  lands  it  be  high  treason  to  com 
pass  the  death  of  a  king,  it  should  be  counted 
no  less  a  crime  here  to  strangle  our  sovereign 

and  Stifle   itS   VOice.  Inaugural  Address. 


Unsettled  Questions. 

267.  It  has  been  said  that  unsettled  ques 
tions  have  no  pity  for  the   repose  of  nations. 
It  should  be  said,  with  the  utmost  emphasis, 
that  this  question  of  suffrage  will  never  give 
repose  or  safety  to  the  nation  until  each  State 
within  its  own  jurisdiction  makes  and  keeps 
the  ballot  free  and  pure  by  the  strong  sanc 
tions  of  the  law.  ibid. 

Ignorance  in  the  Voter. 

268.  The  danger   which  arises  from    ig 
norance  in  the  voter  cannot  be  denied.       ibid. 


THE  SUFFRAGE.  121 

The  Disaster  of  Vice. 

269.  We  have  no  standard  by  which  to 
measure  the  disaster  that  may  be  brought 
upon  us  by  ignorance  and  vice  in  the  citizens 
when  joined  to  corruption  and  fraud  in  the 
suffrage.  jw«*. 


The  Voters  of  the  Union. 

270.  The  voters  of   the  Union  who  make 
and   unmake  Constitutions,  and  upon  whose 
will  hangs  the  destinies  of  our  government, 
can  transmit  supreme  authority  to  no  succes 
sor  save  the  coming  generation  of  voters,  who 
are  the  sole  heirs  of  sovereign  power.     If  that 
generation  conies   to   its   inheritance  blinded 
by  ignorance  and  corrupted  by  vice,  the  fall 
of  the  Republic  will   be   certain  and  remedi 
less.  Md. 

Disfranchised  Peasantry. 

271.  There  can  be  no  permanent  disfran 
chised  peasantry  in  the  United  States.      ibid. 

Our  National  Safety. 

272.  Iii  a  word,  our  national  safety  de 
mands  that  the  fountains  of  political  power 
shall  be  made  pure  by  intelligence  ;md  kept 
pure  by  vigilance. 


122  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

Our  Sovereign's  Danger. 

273.  The    source    of  our    sovereign's    su 
preme  danger,  the  point  where  his  life  is  vul 
nerable,  is  at  the  ballot-box  where  his  will  is 
declared  ;  and  if  he  cannot  stand  by  that  cra 
dle  of  our  sovereign's  heir-apparent  and  pro 
tect  it  to  the  uttermost  against  all  assassins 
and  assailants,  we  have   no  government  and 
no  safety  for  the  future. 

The  Dangers  of  Suffrage. 

274.  We  confront  the  dangers  of  suffrage 
by  the  blessings  of  universal  education. 


THE  LESSON   OF   THE   MONUMENTS. 
What  They  Teach. 

'  275.  What  does  the  monument  mean  ? 
and.  What  will  the  monument  teach  ?  Let 
me  try  and  ask  you  for  a  moment  to  help 
me  answer,  what  does  the  monument  mean. 
Oil  !  the  monument  means  a  world  of  mem 
ories,  a  world  of  deeds,  and  a  world  of  tears, 
and  a  world  of  glories.  You  know,  thousands 
know,  what  it  is  to  offer  up  your  life  to  the 
country,  and  that  is  no  small  thing,  as  every 
soldier  knows.  Let  me  put  the  question  to 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  MONUMENTS.      123 

yon :  For  a  moment,  suppose  your  country  in 
the  awfully  embodied  form  of  majestic  law 
should  stand  above  you  and  say,  "  I  want 
your  life.  Come  up  here  on  the  platform  and 
offer  it."  How  many  would  walk  up  before 
that  majestic  presence  and  say,  "  Here  I  am, 
take  this  life  and  use  it  for  your  great  needs." 
And  yet  almost  two  millions  of  men  made 
that  answer,  and  a  monument  stands  yonder 
to  commemorate  their  answer.  That  is  one 
of  its  meanings.  But,  my  friends,  let  me  try 
you  a  little  further.  To  give  up  life  is  much, 
for  it  is  to  give  up  wife,  and  home,  and  child, 
and  ambition.  But  let  me  test  you  this  way 
further.  Suppose  this  awfully  majestic  form 
should  call  out  to  you,  and  say,  u  I  ask  you 
to  give  up  health  and  drag  yourself,  not  dead, 
but  half  alive,  through  a  miserable  existence 
for  long  years,  until  you  perish  and  die  in 
your  crippled  and  hopeless  condition.  I  ask 
you  to  volunteer  to  do  that,"  and  it  calls  for 
a  higher  reach  of  patriotism  and  self-sacrifice, 
but  hundreds  of  thousands  of  you  soldiers  did 
that.  That  is  what  the  monument  means 
also.  But  let  me  ask  you  to  go  one  step  fur 
ther.  Suppose  your  country  should  say, 
"  Come  here,  on  this  platform,  and  in  my 
name,  and  for  my  sake,  consent  to  be  idiots, 


ll!4  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

—  consent  that  your  very  brain  and  intellect 
shall  be  broken  doAvn  into  hopeless  idiocy  for 
my  sake."  How  many  could  be  found  to 
make  that  venture  ?  And  yet  there  are  thou 
sands,  and  that  with  their  eyes  wide  open  to 
the  horrible  consequences,  obeyed  that  call. 

And  let  me  tell  how  one  hundred  thousand 
of  our  soldiers  were  prisoners  of  war,  and  to 
many  of  them  when  death  was  stalking  near, 
when  famine  was  climbing  up  into  their  hearts, 
and  idiocy  was  threatening  all  that  was  left 
of  their  intellects,  the  gates  of  their  prison 
stood  open  every  day,  if  they  would  quit,  de 
sert  their  flag  and  enlist  under  the  flag  of  the 
enemy,  and  out  of  one  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand  not  two  per  cent,  ever  received  the 
liberation  from  death,  starvation,  and  all  that 
might  come  to  them  ;  but  they  took  all  these 
horrors  and  all  these  sufferings  in  preference 
to  going  back  upon  the  flag  of  their  country 
and  the  glory  of  its  truth.  Great  God  !  was 
ever  such  measure  of  patriotism  reached  by 
any  man  on  this  earth  before.  That  is  what 
your  monument  means.  By  the  subtle  chem 
istry  that  no  man  knows,  all  the  blood  that 
was  shed  by  our  brethren,  —  all  the  lives  that 
were  devoted,  all  the  grief  that  was  felt,  —  at 
last  crystallized  itself  into  granite,  rendered 


THE  LESSON   OF  THE  MONUMENTS.      125 

immortal  the  great  truth  for  which  they  died, 
and  it  stands  there  to-day,  and  that  is  what 
your  monument  means. 

Oration  at  Fainesi-ille,  O.,  I860,  Dedication  oj  a  bulaitu  Monu 
ment. 

A  Story  of  Greece. 

276.  Now  what  does  it  teach  ?  What 
will  it  teach?  Why,  I  remember  the  story 
of  one  of  the  old  conquerors  of  Greece,  who, 
when  he  had  traveled  in  his  boyhood  over  the 
battle-fields  where  Miltiades  had  won  victo 
ries  and  set  up  trophies,  returning  he  said: 
"  These  trophies  of  Miltiades  will  never  let 
me  sleep."  Why,  something  had  taught  him 
from  the  chiseled  stone  a  lesson  that  ho  could 
never  forget,  and,  fellow-citizens,  that  silent 
sentinel,  that  crowned  granite-  column,  will 
look  down  upon  the  boys  that  will  walk  these 
streets  for  generations  to  come,  and  will  not 
let  them  sleep  when  their  country  calls  them. 

lout. 


°77.  That  is  its  lesson,  and  it  is  the  les- 


The  Ifesson  of  Endurance. 

2 

son  of  endurance  for  what  we  believe,  and  it 
is  the  lesson  of  sacrifices  for  what  we  think  — 
the  lesson  of  heroism  for  what  we  mean  to 
sustain —  and  that  lesson  cannot  be  lost  to  a 


126  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

people  like  this.  It  is  not  a  lesson  of  revenge, 
it  is  not  a  lesson  of  wrath,  it  is  the  grand, 
sweet,  broad  lesson  of  the  immortality  of  the 
truth  that  we  hope  will  soon  cover,  as  with 
the  grand  Shekinnh  of  light  and  glory,  all 
parts  of  this  Republic,  from  the  lakes  to  the 
gulf.  it>id. 


PART   III.  — WORDS   POLITICAL. 


SUCH  selections  as  are  included  under  this  head  relate  more 
particularly  to  politics,  parties,  political,  financial,  and  trade 
questions,  and  the  government,  than  what  have  been  collected  in 
Parts  I.  and  II. 


Emigration. 

278.  Emigration  follows  the  path  of  lib 
erty. 

Secession. 

279.  Secession    is   the   tocsin  of    eternal 
war. 

The  Way  We  Legislate. 

280.  We  legislate  for  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  not  for  the  whole  world  ;  and 
it  is  our  glory  that  the  American   laborer   is 
more  intelligent  and  better  paid  than  his  for 
eign  competitor.    Our  country  cannot  be  inde 
pendent  unless  its  people,  with  their  abundant 
natural  resources,  possess  the  requisite  skill  at 
any  time  to  clothe,  arm,  and  equip  themselves 


128  GARFl ELD'S    WORDS. 

for  war,  and  in  time  of  peace  to  produce  all 
the  necessary  implements  of  labor. 

Lttter  of  Acceptance. 
The  Duty  of  Good  Men. 

281.  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  all  good 
men  to  protect  and  defend  the  reputation   of 
worthy  public   servants    as   to   detect  public 
rascals. 

Coercion. 

282.  Coercion  is  the  basis  of  every  law  in 
the   universe,  —  human  or  divine.     A  law  is 
no  law  without  coercion  behind  it. 

The  Judgment  of  Leaders. 

283.  The  general  judgment   of    all  men 
who  deserve  to  be  called  the  leaders  of  Amer 
ican   thought,  ought   to   be  considered  worth 
something  in  an  American  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  on  the  discussion  of  a  great  topic. 

Speech  on  the  Finances,  Nov.  16,  1877. 

The  Movement  of  the  Republic. 

284.  Over  this  vast  horizon  of  interests, 
North  and   South,  above   all  party  prejudices 
and  personal  wrong-doing,  above   our  battle 
hosts  and  our  victorious  cause,  above  all  that 
we  hoped  for  and  won,  or  you  hoped  for  and 


HERE  AND  THERE.  129 

lost,  is  the  grand  onward  movement  of  the 
Republic  to  perpetuate  its  glory,  to  save  lib 
erty  alive,  to  preserve  exact  and  equal  justice 
to  all.,  to  protect  and  foster  all  these  priceless 
principles  until  they  shall  have  crystallized 
into  the  form  of  enduring  law  and  become  in- 
wrong  lit  into  the  life  and  habits  of  our  peo- 

" 


Our  Theory  of  Government. 

28.5.  Our  theory  of  government  is  based 
upon  tihe  belief  that  the  suffrage  carries  with 
it  individual  responsibility,  stimulates  the  ac 
tivity,  -and  promotes  the  intelligence  and  self- 
respect  of  the  voter. 

North  American  Review,  March,  1879. 
The  Vicarious  Atonement. 

286.  Whatever  we  may  believe  theolog 
ically,  I  do  not  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  vi- 
cariou'3  atonement  in  politics. 

House  of  Representatives,  June  12,  1876. 
The  Lessons  of  Charity. 

2B7.  To  those  most  noble  men,  Democrats 
and  Republicans,  who  together  fought  for  the 
Union,  I  commend  all  the  lessons  of  charity 
that  the  wisest  and  most  beneficent  men  have 

tatlgllt.  Ibid. 

9 


130  GARF) 'ELD'S    WORDS. 

Political  Training. 

288.  Probably  no  American  youth,  unless 
we   except  John    Quincy    Adams,  was    ever 
trained  with  special  reference  to  the  political 
service  of  his  country. 

Oration  on  t/u  Death  of  O.  P.  Morton. 
The  Third  House. 

289.  In  coming  hither  these  living  repre 
sentatives  have   passed   under  the   dome   and 
through   that    beautiful    and    venerablo    hall 
which  on  another  occasion  I  have  Ventured  to 
call  the  Third  House  of  American  Represen 
tatives,  that  silent  assembly  whose  members 
have  received  their  high  credentials  at  the  im 
partial  hand  of  history.     Year  by  year  we  see 
the  circle  of  its  immortal  membership  enlarg 
ing  ;  year   by  year   we   see  the  elect  of   their 
country  in  eloquent  silence  taking  their  places 
in  this  American   Pantheon,  bringing   within 
its  sacred  precincts  the  wealth  of  those  immor 
tal  memories  which   made  their  lives  illustri 
ous  ;  and  year  by  year  that  august  assem  bly  is 
teaching  deeper  and   grander  lessons  to  those 
who  serve  in  these  more  ephemeral  houses  of 


Congress. 


Speerh  on  accepting  Carpenter's  Picture  of  the  Sign 
ing  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 


HERE  AND   THERE.  131 

A  Picker-up  of  Bird-seed. 

290.  It  does  not  answer  my  proposition  to 
ramble  over  the  speech  and  pick  up  a  morsel 
here  and  there  ;  to  leave  the  line  of  debate 
and  become  what  the  Grecians  called  a  mere 
sperma-logos,  a  picker-np  of  bird-seed,  a  snap- 
per-up  of  unconsidered  trifles. 

House  of  Representatives,  March  6,  1878. 

Military  Science. 

291.  It  would  be  interesting  to  trace  the 
changes  through  which    military  science  has 
passed  during  the  last  century.     We  should 
find,  especially  during  the  last  half  century, 
that  at  the  end  of  each  great  war  some  lead 
ing  implement  was  mustered  out  of    service 
and  replaced  by  a  better  one ;  and  every  such 
improvement    has    required    a    corresponding 
change  in  the  prevailing  methods  of  warfare. 

North.  American  Review,  March,  1878. 
Female  Suffrage. 

292.  Laugh  as  we  may,  put  it  aside  as 
a  jest  if  we  will,  keep  it  out  of  Congress  or 
political  campaigns,  still,  the  woman  question 
is  rising  in  our  horizon  larger  than  the  size  of 
a  man's  hand  ;  and  some  solution,  ere  long, 
that  question  must  find. 

Address  before  Washington  Business  College. 


132  GARF1EL&S    WORDS. 

Political  Catch-words. 

293.  We  are  apt  to  be  deluded  into  false 
security  by  political   catch-words,  devised  to 
flatter  rather  than  instruct. 

Address  before  the  Literary  Societies  of  Hudson  College. 
The  Dollar. 

294.  The  dollar  is  the  gauge  that  measures 
every  blow  of  the  hammer, 

House  of  Representatives,  Feb.,  1876. 

An  Ideal  Census. 

295.  If  we  had  the  power  to  photograph 
the  American  people  in  one  second  all  in  one 
picture,  and  get  the  conditions  that    the  in 
quiries  of  the  census  could  give  us  all  at  once, 
as  through   a  telephone,  and  have  it  all  re 
corded,  it  would  be  the  ideal  perfect  census. 

House  of  Representatives,  Ftb.  18,  1879. 
Church  and  State. 

296.  The  division    between  Church    and 
State  ought  to  be  so  absolute  that  no  church 
property    anywhere    in    the    state    or    nation 
should   be  exempt  from  taxation  ;  for  if  you 
exempt  the  property  of  any  church  organiza 
tion,  t.)  that  extent  you  impose  a  church  tax 
upon  the  whole  community. 

House  of  Representatives,  June,  1S74. 


HERE  AND   THERE.  133 

The  Democratic  Principle. 

297.  Our  faith   in  the  democratic  princi 
ple  rests  upon  the  belief  that  intelligent  men 
will  see  that  their  highest  political  good  is  in 
liberty,  regulated  by  just  and  equal  laws  ;  and 
that  in  the  distribution  of  political  power  it 
is  safe  to  follow  the  maxim,  *•  Each  for  all, 
and  all  for  each." 

The  Lights  of  Practical  Science. 

298.  As  .the  government  lights  our  coasts 
for  the  protection  of  mariners  and  the  benefit 
of  commerce,  so  it  should  give  to  the  tillers 
of  the  soil  lights  of  practical  science  and  ex 
perience.  Inaugural  Address. 

The  Duty  of  Congress. 

299.  In  my  judgment  it  is  the  duty  of 
Congress,   while  respecting  to  the  uttermost 
the    conscientious    convictions    and    religious 
scruples  of    every  citizen,  to  prohibit  within 
its  jurisdiction  all  criminal  practices,  and  es 
pecially  of  that  class  which  destroy  the  family 
relations  and  endanger  social  order.     Nor  can 
any  ecclesiastical  organization  be  safely  per 
mitted  to  usurp,   in  the  smallest  degree,  the 
functions  and  powers  of  the  national  govern 
ment.  Ibid. 


134  GARFl ELD'S    WORDS. 

THE   FEELINGS    OF   A   STATESMAN. 
The  Life  Behind. 

300.  Behind  this  public  life  lies  a  world 
of  history,  of  quiet,  beautiful,  home-life,  within 
which  the  religious  opinions  and  sentiments 
are    manifested  —  a    world   of    affection,  the 
features  of  which  are  rarely  brought  out  in 

tlllS  lOr U ID.  Oration,  Death,  of  Congressman  Starkweather. 

The  Isolation  of  Congress. 

301.  I  have  often  been    saddened  with 
the  thought  that  in  no  place  where  my  life 
has  been  cast  have  I  seen  so  much  necessary 
isolation  as  here.  lbid, 

An  Isolated  Place. 

302.  In    some   respects   this  hall   is    the 
coldest,  the  most  isolated  place  in  which  the 
human  heart  can  find  a  temporary  residence. 

Ibid. 
The  Final  Departure. 

303.  On    many  accounts  my  transfer  to 
the  Senate  brings  sad  recollections.     Do  you 
remember  the  boy  "  Joe  "  in  one  of  Dickens' 
novels,  who  said  that  everybody  was  always 
telling  him  to  "  move  on,"  that,  whenever  he 
stopped  to  look  in  at  a  window  to  long  for 


THE  FEELINGS   OF  A  STATESMAN.        135 

gingerbread,  or  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  pictures, 
the  voice  of  the  inexorable  policeman  made 
him  ".move  on?"  I  have  felt  something  of 
this  in  the  order  that  sends  me  away  from  the 
house.  It  is  a  final  departure. 

Private  Letter,  Jan.  30,  1880. 
The  World's  Wrath. 

304.  For  twenty-two  years,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  the  last  few  days,  I  have  been  in 
the  public  service.     To-night  I  am  a  private 
citizen.      To-morrow  I  shall  be  called  to  as 
sume   new   responsibilities,  and   on    the    day 
after  the  broadside  of  the  world's  wrath  will 
strike.     It  will  strike  hard.     I  know  it,  and 
you  will  know  it. 

Class  Dinner,  Washington,  March.  3,  1SS1. 
The  Presidential  Fever. 

305.  This  honor  comes  to  me  unsought. 
I  have  never  had  the  Presidential  fever ;  not 
even  for  a  day  ;    nor  have  I  it  to-night.      I 
have  no  feeling  of  elation  in  view  of  the  posi 
tion  I  am  called  upon  to  fill.      I  would  thank 
God  were  I  to-day  a  free  lance  in  the  House 
or  the  Senate.     But  it  is  not  to  be,  and  I  will 
go  forward  to  meet   the   responsibilities  and 
discharge  the  duties  that  are  before  me  with 
all  the  firmness  and  ability  I  can  command. 

Ibid. 


136  GARFl ELD'S    WORDS. 


POLITICAL   PARTIES. 
The  Birth  of  Parties. 

306.  Political    parties,    like     poet?,     are 
born,  not  made.    No  act  of  political  mechanics, 
however  wise,  can  manufacture  to  order  and 
make  a  platform,  and  put  a  party  on  it  which 
will  live  and  flourish. 

Immortal  Ideas. 

307.  Every  great  political  party  that  lias 
done  this  country  any  good  has  given  to  it 
some  immortal  ideas  that  have   outlived   all 
the  members  of  that  party. 

Speech  on  the  Death  of  Lincoln. 
The  Death  of  Parties  and  Liberty. 

308.  Organizations   may  change   or   dis 
solve,  but  when  parties  cease  to  exist  liberty 

Will  perish.  Address  on  the  Dtath  of  O.  P.  Morton. 

The  Federalists. 

309.  Whatever  opinion  we  may  now  en 
tertain   of    the   Federalists    as   a  party,  it  is 
unquestionably  true  that  we  are  indebted  to 
them  for  the  strong  points  of  the  Constitution, 
and  for  the  -stable  government  they  founded 
and  strengthened  during   the  administration 
of  Washington  and  Adams. 


POLITICAL  PARTIES.  137 

Party  Record. 

310.  While  it  is  true  that  no  party  can 
stand  upon  its  past  record  alone,  yet  it  is  also 
true  that  its  past  shows  the  spirit  and  diame 
ter  of  the  organization,  and  enables  us  to  judge 
what  it  will  probably  do  in  the  future. 

The  Life  of  Parties. 

311.  Parties   have    an    organic  life    and 
spirit    of    their    own  —  an    individuality  and 
character  which   outlive   the   men  who  com 
pose  them  ;   and  the  spirit  and  traditions  of 
a  party  should  be  considered  in  determining 
their  fitness  for  managing  the  affairs  of  the 

nation.  House  of  Representatives,  1880. 

The  Control  of  Parties. 

312.  The  thing  most  desired  is  not  how 
to  avoid  the  existence  of  parties,  but  how  to 
keep  them  within  proper  bounds. 

House  of  Representatives,  Oct.  22,  1877. 
The  Republican  Party. 

313.  The  Republican  party  gave  to  the 
country   a    currency   as   national   as  its    flag, 
based  upon  the  sacred  faith  of  the  people. 

S/>etc/i  Dominating  Hun.  Jo/in  Sherman. 


138  GARFJELD'S    WORDS. 

Democratic  and  Republican  Parties. 

314.  The  Democratic  and  Republican  par 
ties  are  examples  of  a  genuine  and  mitural 
method  of  organizing  political  parties.  The 
Democratic  party  in  its  earlier  and  better 
days  represented  the  genuine  aspirations  and 
grand  ideas  of  the  American  people,  and  no 
man.  can  say  it  was  ever  manufactured  at  any 
particular  time  by  any  particular  set  of  men. 
The  Republican  party  also  was  a  growth 
springing  from  the  hostility  of  the  American 
people  to  slavery,  and  they  rallied  around 
that  central  idea,  an  idea  broad  enough  to 
reach  all  the  ramifications  of  our  whole  insti 
tutions. 


PARTY  QUESTIONS. 
Party  Governments. 

315.  All  free  governments  are  party  gov 
ern  IlientS.  Address  on  the  Death  of  O.  P.  Morton. 

Partisanship. 

316.  Partisanship  is  opinion  crystallized, 
—  party    organizations    are    the    scaffoldings 
whereon  citizens  stand  while  they  build    up 
the  wall  of  their  national  temple.  loid. 


PARTY    QUESTIONS  139 

Party  Amenities. 

317.  The  flowers  that  bloom  over  tho  gar 
den  wall  of  party  politics  are  the  sweetest  and 
most  fragrant  that   bloom  in  the  gardens  of 
this  world. 

Political  Issues. 

318.  Real  political  issues  cannot  be  manu 
factured    by  the  leaders  of    political   parties, 
and  real  ones  cannot  be  evaded   by  political 

parties.  Fanueil  Hall,  1878. 

Permanent  Political  Doctrines. 

319.  I  should  like  to  adopt  political  doc 
trines  that  would  live  longer  than  my  dog. 

Cleveland,  October  11,  1879. 

320.  It  is  a  very  awkward  thing  indeed 
to  adopt  a  political   opinion  and  trust  to   it, 
and  find  that  it  will  not  live  overnight     It 
would  be  an  exceedingly  awkward    thing   to 
go  to  bed  alone  with  your  political  doctrine, 
trusting  and    believing    in    it,  thinking    it  is 
true,  and  wake  up  in  the  morning  and  find  it 
a  corpse  in  your  arms. 


140  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

STATESMANSHIP. 
The  Qualities  of  Statesmanship. 

321.  Statesmanship  consists  rather  in  re 
moving  causes  than  in   punishing  or  evading 
results.     Statistical  science  is  indispensable  to 
modern   statesmanship.     In   legislation,  as  in 
physical  science,  it  is  beginning  to  be  under 
stood  that  we  can    control    terrestrial    forces 
only  by  obeying   their  laws.     The  legislator 
must  formulate  in   his  statutes  not  only  the 
national  will,  but   also    those    great    laws   of 
social  life  revealed  by  statistics. 

The  Demagogue. 

322.  Perhaps  it  is    true  that    the  dema 
gogue  will  succeed  when  honorable  statesman 
ship  will  fail.     If  so,  public  life  is  the  hollow- 

CSt  Of  all  sliamS.  Private  Letter,  April  i,  1873. 

Special  Training. 

323.  For  all  the  great  professions  known 
among    Americans     special     training  -  schools 
have  been  established  or  encouraged  by  law 
except  for  that  of  statesmanship.     And    yeb 
no  profession  requires  for  its  successful  pur 
suit    a    wider    range    of    general    and  special 
knowledge  in  a  more  thorough  and  varied  cul 
ture.  Death  of  O.  P.  Morton,  Jan.  18,  1878. 


LEGISLATION.  141 


LEGISLATION. 

Terrestrial  Forces. 

324.  In  legislation,  as  in  physical  science, 
it  is  beginning  to  be  understood  that  we  can 
control  terrestrial  forces  only  by  obeying  their 
laws. 

A  Measure    of  Value. 

325.  Legislation  cannot  make  that  a  mens- 
ure  of  value  which  neither  possesses  nor  rep 
resents  any  definitely  ascertained  value. 

The  Minority. 

326.  As  a  general  rule,  long  service  in  a 
legislative  minority  unfits  men  for  the  duties 
that  devolve  upon  a  majority.     The  business 
of  one  is  to  attack,  of  the  other  to  defend  ;  of 
the  one  to  tear  down,  of  the  other  to  build  up. 

The  Legislator  and  Statistics. 

327.  The  legislator  without    statistics    is 
like  the  mariner  at  sea  without  the  compass. 

A  Legislator's  Study. 

328.  The   legislator  must  study  society 
rather  than  black-letter  learning. 

lloufe  o/  litpresentativef,  June  8,  18G6. 


142  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

GOVERNMENT. 
Proportion  in  Governments. 

329.  A   government   made  for  the  king 
dom  of  Lilliput  might  fail  to  handle  the  forces 
of  Brobdignag. 

An  Artificial  Giant. 

330.  A  government  is  an  artificial  giant, 
and    the    power    that    moves    it   is   money  — 
money  raised  by  taxation  and  distributed  to 
the  various  parts  of  the  body  politic,  accord 
ing  to  the  discretion  of  the  legislative  power. 

The   Powers  of  Government. 

331.  We  are  accustomed  to  hear  it  said 
that  the  great  powers  of  government  in  this 
country  are  divided  into  two  classes:  national 
powers  and  state  powers.     That  is  an  incom 
plete  classification.      Our  fathers  carefully  di 
vided    all    governmental    powers    into    three 
classes  :  one  they  gave  to   the  states,  another 
to  the  nation  ;  but  the  third  great  class,  com 
prising  the  most  precious  of  all  powers,  they 
refused  to  confer  on  the  state  or  nation,  but 
reserved   to  themselves.      This  third  class  of 
powers  has  been  almost  uniformly  overlooked 
by  men  who  have  written  and  discussed  the 
American  system. 


CONGRESS.  143 

The  Management  of  Governments. 

332.  All   free  governments  .are  managed 
by  the    combined    wisdom    and    folly  of   the 

people.  Private  Letter,  April  21,  1880. 

Despotism. 

333.  Perhaps,  as  a   mere   matter  of  gov 
ernment,  a  good  despot  would  make  a  better 
government  ;    but  for    the    education    of    the 
people  governed,   a  good  despotism  is  worse 
than  freedom  with  its  admixture  of  folly. 


CONGRESS. 
The  Vote  of  Congress. 

334.  In  the  name  of  common  sense  and 
sanity,  let  us  take  some  account  of  the  flood, 
that  a  deluge  means  something,  and  try  if  we 
can  get  our  bearings  before  we  undertake  to 
settle  the  affairs  of  all  mankind  by  a  vote  of 
this  House. 

A  Safe  Rule  in  Legislation. 

335.  It  is  a  safe  and  wise  rule    to  follow, 
in  all  legislation,  that  whatever  the  people  can 
do   without   legislation    will    be    better,  done 

O  W 

than  by  the  intervention  of  the  State  or  na 
tion. 


144  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

"What  Congress  Is. 

336.  Congress  has  always  been  and  must 
always  be  the  theatre  of  contending  opinions; 
the   forum  where   the   opposing  forces    of  po 
litical     philosophy     meet    to    measure    their 
strength  ;  where  the   public  good   must  meet 
the  assaults  of  local  and   sectional  interests  ; 
in  a  word,  the  appointed   place  where  the  na 
tion  seeks   to  utter  its  thought  and   register 
its  will. 

337.  Congress  must  always  be  the  expo 
nent  of  the  political  character  and  culture  of 
the   people,  and   if  the  next   centennial   does 
not  find  us  a  great   nation    with  a    great  and 
worthy  Congress,  it  will  be  because  those  who 
represent  the  enterprise,  the  culture,  and  the 
morality  of  the  nation  do  not  aid  in    control 
ling  the  political   forces,  which   are  employed 
to  select  the  men  who  shall   occupy  the  gretit 
places  of  trust  and  power. 

"A  Ctntury  in  Congress,"  Atlantic  Monthly,  Aug.,  1876. 

338.  I  admit  most   freely  that  Congress 
may  regulate   the   act  of  opening  the  certifi 
cates  and  may  regulate  the  work  of  counting, 
but  it*  cannot  push   its  power  to   regulate  be 
yond  the  meaning  of  the  words  that  describe 


CONGRESS.  145 

the  tiling  to  be  clone.  It  cannot  ingraft  a  ju 
diciary  system  upon  the  word  "  oprn."  It 
cannot  evolve  a  court-martial  from  the  word 
14  count."  It  cannot  erect  a  star  chamber 
upon  either  or  both  of  these  words.  It  can 
not  plant  the  seeds  of  despotism  between  the 
lines  or  words  of  the  Constitution. 

Spftch  on  Counting  tke  Electoral  Vole. 


Sound  Words. 

339.  During  the  many  calm  years  of  the 
century  our  pilots  have  grown  careless  of  the 
course.     The  master  of  a  vessel  sailing  down 
Lake  Ontario  has   the  whole  breadth  of  that 
beautful  inland   sea    for    his   pathway.      But 
"when  his  ship  arrives  at  the   chute  of  the  La- 
chine  there   is  but  one  pathway  of    safety. 
With  a  steady  hand,  a  clear  eye,  and  a  bravo 
heart  he   points  his   prow   to    the  well-fixed 
landmarks  on    the  shore   and,  with  death  on 
either  hand,  makes  the  plunge  and  shoots  the 
rapids  in  safety.    We  too  are  ;ippro;iching  the 
narrows,  and  we   hear  the   roar  of  the  angry 
waters  below  and  the  muttering  of  the  sullen 
thunder    overhead.     Unterrified  by  breakers 
or  tempest,  let  us  steer  our  course  by  the  Con 
stitution  of  our  fathers,  and  we  shall  neither 
sink  in   the  rapids,  nor  compel  our  children 
10 


146  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

to    shoot  JSiagara  and    perish  in  the  whirl 
pool.  lbid- 

A  Menace. 

340.  When  you  tell  me  that  civil  war  is 
threatened  by  any  party  or  State  in  this  Re 
public,  you  have  given  me  a  supreme  reason 
why  an  American  Congress  should  refuse, 
with  unutterable  scorn,  to  listen  to  those  who 
threaten,  or  to  do  any  act  whatever  under  the 
coercion  of  threats  by  any  power  on  earth. 
With  all  my  soul  I  despise  your  threat  of 
civil  war,  come  from  what  quarter  or  party  it 
may.  Brave  men,  certainly  a  brave  nation, 
will  do  nothing  under  compulsion.  We  are 
intrusted  with  the  work  of  obeying  and  de 
fending  the  Constitution,  I  will  not  be  de 
terred  from  obeying  it  because  somebody 
threatens  to  destroy  it.  I  dismiss  all  that 

class  of  motives  as  unworthy  of  Americans. 

ibid. 


FINANCE   AND   THE   PUBLIC   CREDIT. 
A  Valuable  Book. 

341.  The  log-book  of  this  voyage  cannot 
be  read  too  often. 

"The  Currency  Conflict,"  Atlantic  Monthly,  Feb.,  1876. 


FINANCE  AND   THE  PUBLIC  CREDIT.    147 
The  Fate  of  a  Paper  Currency. 

342.  I    for    one   am    unwilling   that   my 
name  shall  be  linked  to  the  fate  of  a  paper 
currency.     I    believe    that    any  party  which 
commits  itself  to  paper  money  will  go  down 
amid  the  general  disaster,  covered  with  the 
curses  of  a  ruined  people. 

Public  Dtbts  and  Specie  Paymtnts,  March  16,  1866. 
Sleight-of-Hand  Finance. 

343.  I  believe  they  will,  after  a  full  hear 
ing,  discard  all  methods  of  paying  their  debts 
by  sleight-of-hand,  or  by  any  scheme  which 
crooked  wisdom  may  devise.     If  public  mo 
rality  did  not  protest  against  any  such  plan, 
enlightened  public  selfishness  would  refuse  its 

Sanction .  House  of  Representatives,  July  15,  18G8- 

The  Future  of  Finance. 

344.  Let  us  be  true  to  our  trust  a  few 
years  longer,  and  the  next  generation  will  be 
here  with  its  seventy-five  millions  of  popula 
tion  and  its  sixty  billions  of  wealth.    To  them 
the   debt  that  then  remains  will  be  a  light 
burden.     They  will  pay  the  last  bond  accord 
ing  to   the   letter  and   spirit  of  the  contract, 
with   the   same   sense   of  grateful  duty  -with 
which  they  will  pay  the  pensions  of  the  few 


148  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

surviving  soldiers  of  the  great  war  for  the 
Union.  ibid. 

Debt  Questions. 

345.  All  the  questions  which  spring  out  of 
the  public  debt,  such  as  loans,  bonds,  land's, 
internal  taxation,  banking  and  currency,  pre 
sent  greater  difficulties  than  usually  come 
within  the  scope  of  American  politics.  They 
cannot  be  settled  by  force  of  numbers  nor  car 
ried  by  assault,  as  an  army  storms  the  works 
of  an  enemy.  Patient  examination  of  facts, 
careful  study  of  principles  which  do  not  al 
ways  appear  on  the  surface,  and  which  in 
volve  the  most  difficult  problems  of  political 
economy,  are  the  weapons  of  this  warfare. 

Speech  on  Finance,  May  15,  18G8. 
The  Way  to  Legislate. 

346.  It  would  be  dishonorable   for  Con 
gress  to  legislate  either  for  the  debtor  class  or 
for  the    creditor  class   alone.     We   ought  to 
legislate  for  the  whole  country. 

Speech  Against  Repeating  the  Resumption  A:t. 

The  Perfidy  of  A  Nation. 

347.  The  perfidy  of  one  man,  or  of  a  mil 
lion  of  men,  is  as  nothing  compared  with  the 
perfidy  of  a  nation. 

House  of  Representatives,  Feb.,  1876. 


AND    THE  PUBLIC  CREDIT.    149 
Financial  Subjects. 

348.  Men's  first   opinions  are  almost  al 
ways  wrong  in  regard  to  them,  as  they  are  in 
regard   to   astronomy,  and   he  who   reads  the 
truths  that  lie  deepest,  is  in  imminent  danger 
of  being  tabooed  for  a  madman. 

Private  Letter,  Dec.  15,  1887. 

349.  Financial  subjects  are  nuts  and  clo 
ver  for  demagogues.  ibid. 

Inflationists. 

350.  In  1802,  there  may  have  been  follow 
ers  of  William  Lonndes  and  John  Law  among 
our  people,  and  here  and  there  a  philosopher 
who    dreamed   of  an  ideal    standard  of    value 
stripped  of  all  the  grossness  of  so  coarse  and 
vulg.ir  a  substance  as  gold.      But  they  dwelt 
apart    in    silence,    and    their    opinions    mado 
scarce    a    ripple     on    the    current    of    public 

thought.  Speeck  on  the  Currency,  F«6.,  1376. 

Kevcnue  Laws  as  Sign-Posts. 

351.  If  our  Republic  were   blotted  from 
the  earth  and  from  the  memory  of  mankind, 
and  if  no  record   of  its   history  survived,  ex 
cept  a  copy  of  our  revenue  laws  and  our  ap 
propriation  bills  for  a  single  year,  the  political 


150  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

philosopher  would  be  able  from  these  mate 
rials  alone  to  reconstruct  a  large  part  of  our 
history,  and  sketch  with  considerable  accuracy 
the  character  and  spirit  of  our  revolutions. 

North  American  Review,  June,  1877. 

An  Uncertain  Currency. 

352.  An  uncertain  currency  that  goes  up 
and  down,  hits  the  laborer,  and  hits  him  hard. 
It  helps  him  last  and  hurts  him  first. 

Finance  and  Public  Opinion. 

353.  That  man  makes   a    vital    mistake 
who  judges  truth  in   relation  to  financial  af 
fairs    from    the    changing    phases    of    public- 
opinion.      He   might  as   well   stand   on    the 
shore  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  from  the  ebb 
and  flow  of  a  single  tide  attempt  to  determine 
the  general  level  of  the  sea,  as  to  stand  upon 
this    floor,   and    from   the    current   of    public 
opinion  on  any  one  debate,  judge  of  the  gen 
eral  level   of    the    public    mind.      It    is   only 
when  long  spaces  along  the  shore   of  the  sea 
are  taken  into  account  that  the  grand  level  is 
found  from  which  the  heights  and  depths  are 
measured.     And  it  is  only  when  long  spaces 
of   time  are  considered   that  we  find  at  last 
that  level  of  public  opinion  which  we  call  the 
general  judgment  of  mankind. 


f'JNAXCti  AND   THE  PUBLIC  CREDIT.    151 
An  Uncertain  Standard. 

354.  An  uncertain  and  fluctuating  stand 
ard  is  an  evil  whose  magnitude  is  too  vast  for 
measurement. 


The  Gold  Exchange. 

355.  The  Gold  Exchange  and  the   Gold 
Clearing-House,  of  New  York,  will  be  remem 
bered  in   history  as  the  Germans  remember 
the  robber  castles  of  the  Rhine,  whence  the 
brigand  chiefs  levied   black-mail   upon  every 
passer-by. 

Successful  Resumption. 

356.  Successful   resumption   will   greatly 
aid   in   bringing  into  the  murky  sky  of  our 
politics,  what  -the  Signal  Service  people  call 
"  clearing  weather." 

Bad  Faith. 

357.  Bad  faith  on  the  part  of  an  individ 
ual,  a  city,  or  even  a  State,  is  a  small  evil 
in  comparison  with  the  calamities  which  fol 
low  bad  faith  on  the  part  of  a  sovereign  gov 
ernment. 

Confidence  in  Promises. 

358.  In   the    complex   and  delicately-ad- 


152  GARFIEL&S    WORDS. 

justed  relations  of  modern  society,  confidence 
in  promises  lawfully  made  is  the  life-blood  of 
trade  and  commerce.  It  is  the  vital  air  laboi- 
breathes.  It  is  the  light  which  shines  on  the 
pathway  of  prosperity. 

Bad  Faith. 

359.  An  act  of  bad  faith  on  the  part  of  a 
State  or  municipal  corporation,  like  poison  in 
the  blood,  will  transmit  its  curse  to  succeeding 
generations. 

Three  Reasons  for  Resumption. 

360.  We  are  bound  by  three  great  reasons 
to    maintain    the  resumption   of    specie    pay 
ments  :   First,  because  the  sanctity  of  the  pub 
lic  faith  requires  it;  second,  bee  uise  the  ma 
terial  prosperity  of  the   country  demands   it; 
and  third,  because   our   future   prosperity  in 
sists  that  agitation  shall  cease,  and  that  the 
country  shall  find  a  safe  and  permanent  basis 
of  financial  peace. 

The  Men  of  1862. 

361.  The  men  of  1862  knew  the  dangers 
from  sad  experience  in  our  history;  and,  like 
Ulysses,  lashed    themselves    to    the    mast    of 
public  credit  when  they  embarked  upon   the 


FINANCE  AND   THE   PUBLIC   CREDIT.    153 

stormy  and  boisterous  sea  of  inflated  paper 
money,  that  they  might  not  be  beguiled  by 
the  siren-song  that  would  be  sung  to  them 
when  they  were  afloat  on  the  wild  waves. 

Financial  Literature. 

362.  Let    the    wild    swarm    of    financial 
literature  that  has  sprung  into  life  within  the 
last  twelve  years  witness  how  widely  and  how 
far  we  have   drifted.    We  have   lost  our  old 
moorings,    have    thrown     overboard    our    old 
compass  ;  we  sail  by  alien    stars  looking  not 
for   the  haven,  but  are  afloat  on  a  harborless 
sea. 

Equality  of  Dollars. 

363.  Let  us  have  equality  of  dollars  be 
fore  the  law,  so  that  the  trinity  of  our  polit 
ical    creed    shall  be  equal  states,  equal   men, 
and     equal     dollars    throughout    the    Union. 
When  these  three  are  realized  \ve  shall  have 
achieved    the   complete    pacification    of    our 
country. 


154  GARF1EL&S    WORDS. 


REVENUE. 

Revenue,  a  Motive  Power. 

364.  Revenue  is  not  the  friction  of  a  gov 
ernment,  but  rather  its  motive  power. 

The  Expenditure  of  Revenue. 

365.  The  expenditure  of   revenue  forms 
the  grand  level  from  which   all   heights  and 
depths  of  legislative  action  are  measured. 

Corruption  and  Cash. 

366.  There  is  scarcely  a  conceivable  form 
of  corruption  or  public  wrong  that  does  not 
at  last  present  itself  at  the  cashier's  desk  and 
demand    money.      The  legislature,  therefore, 
that  stands  at  the  cashier's  desk  and  watches 
with  its  Argus  eyes  the  demands  for  payment 
over  the  counter  is  most  certain  to  see  all  the 
forms  of  public  rascality. 

Financial  Health. 

367.  A    steady    and    constant     revenue 
dawn  from  sources  that  represent   the  pros 
perity  of  the  nation  —  a  revenue  that  grows 
with  the  growth  of  national  wealth  and  is  so 
adjusted  to  the  expenditures  that  a  constant 


TRADE  AND  BUSINESS.  155 

and  considerable  surplus  is  annually  left  in 
the  treasury  above  all  the  necessary  current 
demands,  a  surplus  that  keeps  the  treasury 
strong,  that  holds  it  above  the  fear  of  sudden 
panic,  that  makes  it  impregnable  against  all 
private  combinations,  that  makes  it  a  terror 
to  all  stock  jobbing  and  gold  gambling  —  this 
is  financial  health. 


TRADE   AND   BUSINESS. 
The  Wants  of  Trade. 

368.  Is  there  any  man  in  America  wise 
enough  to  measure  tho  wants  of  trade  and 
tell  just  how  much  currency  is  needed  ?  Who 
forgets  the  infinite  difficulty  to  find  a  man 
with  brain  enough  and  resource  enough  to 
feed  an  army  and  to  clothe  it  and  to  house 
it  ?  Its  house  is  of  the  rudest  —  only  a  piece 
of  cloth  ;  its  clothing  is  of  the  simplest,  and 
its  food  is  a  definitely -prescribed  ration.  But 
it  is  considered  worthy  of  the  glory  of  one 
glorious  life  to  be  able  to  feed  and  clothe 
and  house  an  army  of  a  hundred  thousand 
men.  Now,  fellow-citizens,  suppose  somebody 
should  offer  to  take  the  contract  of  feeding, 
clothing,  and  housing  Boston  and  its  suburbs, 


156  GARFIELWS    WORDS. 

including  half  a  million  of  men.  Remember 
that  all  nations  arc  placed  under  contribution 
to  supply  the  city  of  Boston  :  every  clime 
sends  its  supplies  ;  every  portion  of  our  land, 
all  our  roads  of  transportation  are  looked  to 
to  supply  the  tables,  houses,  and  the  cloth 
ing  of  this  community.  Do  you  suppose  any 
man  in  the  world  is  wise  enough,  is  skillful 
enough  to  supply  the  wants  of  this  popula 
tion,  in  a  circle  of  twenty  miles  around  Bos 
ton  ?  Now  multiply  that  by  a  hundred,  and 
get  the  population  of  the  United  States.  Is 
there  any  man  in  this  world  wise  enough,  is 
there  any  congress  in  the  world  wise  enough, 
to  me-isure  the  wants  of  forty-five  millions  of 
people  and  tell  just  what  is  needed  for  their 
supplies?  No,  fellow-citizens;  but  there  is 
something  behind  legislation  that  does  —  does 

O  o 

all  so  quietly  and  so  perfectly.  Every  man 
seeking  his  own  interest,  millions  of  men  act 
ing  for  themselves,  acting  under  the  great 
law  of  supply  and  demand,  the  laws  of  trade, 
feed  Boston,  feed  the  United  States,  clothe, 
house,  and  transport  the  nation  and  carry  on 
all  its  mighty  works  in  perfect  harmony  and 
with  ease,  because  the  higher  law  above  legis 
lation,  —  the  law  of  demand  and  supply,  — 
pervading  and  covering  all,  settles  that  great 


STATES  RIGHTS.  107 

question,  far  above  the  wisdom  of  one  man, 
or  a  thousand  men  to  determine  it. 

Faiiudl  Hull,  1373. 
The  Business  of  the  Country. 

369.  The  business  of  the  country  is  like 
the  level  of  the  ocean,  from  which  all  meas 
urements  are  made  of  heights  and  depths. 
Though  tides  and  currents  may  for  a  time 
disturb,  and  tempests  vex  and  toss  its  sur 
face,  still,  through  calm  and  storm  the  grand 
level  rules  all  its  waves  and  lays  its  measur 
ing  lines  on  every  shore.  So  the  business  of 
the  country,  which,  in  the  aggregated  de 
mands  of  the  people  for  exchange  of  values, 
marks  the  ebb  and  flow,  the  rise  and  fall  of 
the  currents  of  trade,  and  forms  the  base  line 
from  which  to  measure  all  our  financial  legis 
lation,  is  the  only  safe  rule  by  which  the  vol 
ume  of  our  currency  can  be  determined. 

House  of  Representative.*,  January  7,  1870. 


STATES   RIGHTS. 
The  Powers  of  Government. 

37O.  No  more  beautiful  thought  was  em 
bodied  in  the  structure  of  our  Republic  than 


158  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

this :  that  our  fathers  did  so  distribute  the 
powers  of  government  that  no  one  power 
should  be  able  to  swallow,  absorb,  or  destroy 
the  others. 

The  Character  of  the  Republic. 

371.  Nothing  more  aptly  describes  the 
character  of  our  Republic  than  .the  solar  sys 
tem,  launched  into  space  by  the  hand  of  the 
Creator  where  the  central  sun  is  the  great 
power  around  which  revolve  all  the  planets 
in  their  appointed  orbits.  But  while  the  sun 
holds  in  the  grasp  of  its  attractive  power  the 
whole  system  and  imparts  its  light  and  heat 
to  all,  yet  each  individual  planet  is  under  the 
sway  of  laws  peculiar  to  itself. 


SLAVERY. 
The  Remission  of  Slavery. 

372.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  sin 
of  slavery  is  one  of  which  it  may  be  said  that 
without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  re 
mission.  Private  Letter  on  the  Outbreak  of  the  War. 

An  Alarming  Truth. 

373.  In  the  very  crisis  of  our  fate  God 


SLAVERY.  159 

brought  us  face  to  face  with  the  alarming 
truth,  that  \ve  must  lose  our  own  freedom  or 
grant  it  to  the  slave. 

House  of  Representatives,  January  13,  1866. 
The  Death  of  Slavery. 

374.  We  shall  never  know  why  slavery 
dies  so  hard  in  this  Republic  and  in  this  hall 
till  we  know  why  sin  has  such  longevity  and 
Satan  is  immortal.  With  marvelous  tenacity 
of  existence,  it  has  outlived  the  expectations 
of  its  friends  and  the  hopes  of  its  enemies.  It 
has  been  declared  here  and  elsewhere  to  be  in 
all  the  several  stages  of  mortality,  wounded, 
moribund,  dead.  The  question  was  raised  by 
my  colleague  [Mr.  Cox]  yesterday,  whether  it 
was  indeed  dead,  or  only  in  a  troubled  sleep. 
I  know  of  no  better  illustration  of  its  condi 
tion  than  is  found  in  Sallust's  admirable  his 
tory  of  the  great  conspirator  Catiline,  who, 
when  his  final  battle  was  fought  and  lost,  his 
army  broken  and  scattered,  was  found  far  in 
advance  of  his  own  troops,  lying  among  the 
dead  enemies  of  Rome,  yet  breathing  a  little, 
but  exhibiting  in  his  countenance  all  that  fe 
rocity  of  spirit  which  had  characterized  his 
life.  So,  sir,  this  body  of  slavery  lies  before 
us  among  the  dead  enemies  of  the  republic, 


160  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

mortally  wounded,  impotent  in  its  fiendish 
wickedness,  but  with  its  old  ferocity  of  Icok, 
bearing  the  unmistakable  marks  of  its  infer 
nal  origin. 

House   of   R'p'fffrtativef..     Constitutional  Amendment  to  abolish 
Slavery,  Jan.  13,  1305. 


The  Victims  of  Slavery. 

375.  All  along  the  coast  of  oar  political 
sea  these  victims  of  slavery  lie  like  stranded 
wrecks,  broken  on  the  headlands  of  freedom. 

Ibid. 
A  Great  Political  Change. 

376.  The    elevation    of    the   negro    race 
from  slavery  to  the  full  rights  of  citizenship 
is   the   most   important    political    change  we 
have  known  since  the  adoption  of  the  Consti 
tution  of  1787.     No  thoughtful   man  can  fail 
to  appreciate  its  beneficent  effect  upon  our  in 
stitutions  and  people.     It  has  freed  us  from 
the  perpetual  danger  of  war  and  dissolution. 
It  has  added  immensely  to  the  moral  and  in 
dividual  forces  of  our  people.    It  has  liberated 
the  master  as  well  as  the  slave  from  a  relation 
which  wronged  and  enfeebled  both.     Jt  has 
surrendered    to  their   own    guardianship    the 
manhood  of  more  than  5,000,000  people,  and 
has  opened  to  each  one  of  them  a  career  of 
freedom  and  usefulness.     It  has  given  new  in- 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION'.          161 

spiration  to  the  power  of  self-help  in  both 
races  by  making  labor  more  honorable  to  the 
one  and  more  necessary  to  tho  other.  The 
influence  of  this  force  will  grow  greater  and 
bear  rich  fruit  with  the  coming  years. 

Inaugural  Address. 


THE  WAR   OF  THE   REBELLION. 
The  Soldier's  Death. 

377.  If  silence  is  ever  golden,  it  must  be 
here,  beside   the  graves  of    fifteen    thousand 
men,  whose  lives  were  more  significant  than 
speech,  and  whose   death   was   a   poem,  the 
music  of  which  can  never  be  sung. 

Decoration,  Day  Oration,  Arlington,  May  30,  1868. 

The  Character  of  the  Change. 

378.  It  will  not  do  to  speak  of  the  gigan 
tic  revolution  through  which  we  have   lately 
passed  as  a  thing  to  be  adjusted  and  settled 
by  a  change  in  administration.     It  was  cycli 
cal,  epochal,  century-wide,  and  to  be  studied 
in  its  broad  and  grand  perspective,  a  revolu 
tion  of  even  wider  scope,  so  far  as  time  is  con 
cerned,  than  the  Revolution  of  1776. 

11 


l62  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

The  Strength  of  Men  in  Revolution. 

379.  In  such  a  revolution,  men   are  like 
insects,  that  fret  and  toss  in  the   storm,  but 
are  swept  onward  by  tho  resistless  movements 
of  elements  beyond  their  control. 

How  it  Should  be  Studied. 

380.  I   speak  of   this    revolution   not   to 
praise  the  men  who  aided  it,  or  to  censure  the 
men  who  resisted  it,  but  as  a  force  to  be  stud 
ied,  as  a  mandate  to  be  obeyed. 

The  Need  of  Vigilance. 

381.  Those  who  carried  the  war  for  the 
Union  and  equal  and  universal  freedom  to  a 
victorious  issue  can  never  safely  relax  their 
vigilance  until  the  ideas  for  which  they  fought 
have  become  embodied  in  the  enduring  forms 
of  individual  and  national  life. 

The  Peace  to  Be. 

382.  Peace  from  the  shock  of  battle,  the 
higher  Peace  of  our  streets,  our  homes,  of  our 
equal  rights  we  must  secure  by  making  the 
conquering  ideas  of  the  War  everywhere  dom 
inant  and  permanent. 


THE    WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.          163 

The  Spirit  of  the  "War. 

383.  Think  of  the  great  elevating  spirit 
of  the  war  itself.    We  gathered  the  boys  from 
all   our   farms,    and   shops,    and   stores,    and 
schools,  and  homes,  from  all  over  the  republic, 
and  they  went  forth  unknown  to  fame,  but 
returned  enrolled  on  the  roster  of  immortal 
heroes. 

Speech  be/ore  the  Boys  in  Blue,  New  York,  Aug.  6, 1880. 
Our  Temple. 

384.  This  arena  of  rebellion  and  slavery 
is  a  scene  of  violence  and   crime  no  longer  ! 
This  will  be  forever  the  sacred  mountain  of  our 
Capital.     Here  is   our  temple ;  its   pavement 
is  the  sepulchre  of  heroic   hearts  ;  its  dome, 
the   bending   heaven  ;    its   altar  candles,  tb* 
watching  stars. 

Decoration  Day,  Arlington,  May  30,  186$ 
A  Lost  Opportunity. 

385.  A   tenth  of   our   national   debt  ex 
pended  in    public   education   fifty  years   ago 
would  have  saved  us  the  blood  and  treasure  of 

the  late  War.  House  of  Representatives,  June  8,  1866. 

Our  Future. 

386.  I  once  entered  a  house  in  old  Massa- 


164  GARFIELD'S   WORDS. 

chusetts  where  over  its  doors  were  two  crossed 
swords.  One  was  the  sword  carried  by  the 
grandfather  of  its  owner  on  the  field  of  Bun 
ker  Hill ;  and  the  other  was  the  sword  car 
ried  by  the  English  grandsire  of  the  wife  on 
the  same  field,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the 
conflict.  Under  those  crossed  swords,  in  the 
restored  harmony  of  domestic  peace,  lived  a 
bappy  and  contented  and  free  family,  under 
the  light  of  our  Republican  liberties.  I  trust 
the  time  is  not  far  distant  when,  under  tho 
crossed  swords  and  the  locked  shields  of 
Americans,  north  and  south,  our  people  shall 
sleep  in  peace  and  rise  in  liberty,  love,  and 
harmony,  under  the  union  of  our  flag  of  the 
stars  and  stripes.  Paine*riiie,  o.,  juiy  4,  isso. 

A  Great  Hope. 

387.  I  hope  to  see  in  all  those  states  the 
men  who  fought  and  suffered  for  the  truth, 
tilling  the  fields  on  which  they  pitched  their 
tents.  I  hope  to  see  them,  like  old  Kaspar  of 
Blenheim,  on  the  summer  evenings,  with  their 
children  upon  their  knees,  and  pointing  out 
the  spot  where  brave  men  fell,  and  marble 
commemorating  it. 

House  of  Representatives,  Jan.  28,  1864. 


WAR.  165 

WAR. 

War's  Answer. 

388.  The  reply  to  war  is  not  words  but 
swords. 

The  End  of  War. 

389.  Battles  are  never  the  end  of  war  ; 
for  the  dead  must  be  buried  and  the  cost  of 
the  conflict  must  be  paid. 

Wars  without  Ideas. 

390.  Ideas  are  the  great  warriors  of  the 
world,  and  a  war  that  has  no  ideas  behind  it 
is  simply  brutality. 

An  Idea  of  a  Battle. 

391.  To   him    a   battle   was   neither    an 
earthquake,  nor   a  volcano,  nor   a   chaos   of 
brave  men  and  frantic  horses  involved  in  vast 
explosions  of  gunpowder.     It  was   rather  a 
calm,  rational   combination  of   force   against 

Oration  on  Geo.  H.  Thomas. 


The  Power  of  War. 

392.  After  the  fire  and  blood  of  the  bat 
tle-fields  have  disappeared,  nowhere  does  war 
show  its  destroying  power  so  certainly  and  so 


1G6  GARFIELD'S    WORDS. 

relentlessly  as  in  the   columns  winch  repre 
sent  the  taxes  and  expenditures  of  the  nation. 

A  "Weakness  in  Human  Wisdom. 

393.  The  wit  of  man  has  never  devised 
a  method  by  which  the  vast  commercial  and 
industrial  interests  of  a  nation  can  suffer  the 
change  from  peace  to  war,  and  from  war  back 
to  peace,  without  hardship  and  loss. 

Speech  on  the  Pendltton  Inflation  Bill. 


How  forcible  are  right  words. 

JOB  vi.  24. 


INDEX. 


NO.  OF  SAYrNO.      PAGE 

ABSOLUTE  power 232. ...  105 

Achievement 88 53 

Achievement,  the  graduate's 99 56 

Adams,  Samuel 218,  219. ..  .100 

Advancement,  national 18G 90 

Advancement,  poverty  no  obstacle  to 64 45 

Advantages  of  communication,  the 25 35 

Age,  a  great 205 96 

Alarming  truth,  an 373 158 

Ambition,  personal 251 112 

American  citizen,  the 264 119 

American  honor 193 92 

-    American  people,  rights  of  the 187 90 

f    Americans,  intelligent 47 34 

Answer,  war's 388 165 

Architects  of  the  future,  the 117 63 

Army  of  artisans,  an 238 106 

Art.* '. 50 41 

Art,  the  spirit  of 51 41 

Art,  true 50 41 

Artificial  giant,  an 330 142 

Artisans,  an  army  of 238 106 

Atlantic,  the 199 93 

Atonement,  the  vicarious 286 129 

JJAD  faith 357.... 152 

Battle  of  history,  the 133 73 

Battle,  an  idea  of  a" 391. ..  .165 

Beginning,  the,  of  education 95 55 


168  INDEX. 

NO.  OP  SATING.     PACK 

Behavior  of  the  nation,  the 260 116 

Bestowal  of  the  vtreath,  the 82 52 

Bird-seed,  a  picker-up  of 290. ..  .131 

Birth  of  parties 306 136 

Birth  of  statistics 172 84 

Book,  a  valuable 341. ...  146 

Books 129. ...  68 

Booth,  Miss  Almeda  A 70 46 

Boundaries  of  freedom 233. . .  .105 

603-8,  reverence  for 3 29 

Bravery,  national 195 92 

Bulwark  of  opposition,  a 8 31 

Burns,  Robert 74 48 

Business  of  the  country,  the 369 157 

,  the  deception  of 37 38 

Campaign  discipline 204 95 

Cause  of  alarm,  a 242. ...  108 

Catch-words,  political 293 132 

Cash,  corruption  and 366. . .  J54 

Chance  of  the  Republic,  the 85 52 

Chance,  the  doctrine  of 29 36 

Change,  a  great  political 376 160 

Change,  the  character  of  the 378 161 

Chandler,  Zachariah 72 47         i 

Character 41 

Character,  early  influences  on 62 45 

Character,  formation  of  strong .59 43          ) 

Character,  foundation  of,  the 56 42 

Character,  knowledge  of,  the 55 42 

Character,  influence  of,  the 57 43 

Character,  Lincoln's 69 46 

Character,  moment,  discovery  of,  the 63 45 

Character  of  the  Republic 371 158 

Character,  problems  of,  the 54 41 

Character,  production  of,  the 52. ...  41 

Character,  rare  gift  of,  a 58 43 

Characters,  great 45 

Charity,  lessons  of 287 129 


INDEX.  169 

NO.  07  SAYTXG.     PAOB 

Children's  education 112 61 

Christianity,  the  mandate  of 24 34 

Christian's  reply,  a 14 32 

Church  and  state 296 132 

Citizen,  the  American 864 119 

Citizen,  the  power  of  the 248 112 

Citizenship 209 97 

Civilization,  a  force  in 167 83 

Civilization,  a  weapon  of 142 76 

Coercion 282 128 

Cohesion  of  the  Republic 118 

Colonists,  the  patrimony  of  the 215 99 

Coming  conflict,  the 168 83 

Commanders,  the 86 52 

Commerce 171 84 

Commerce  and  industry 84 

Commodity,  the  laborer's 38 38 

Common  defense,  the 223 102 

Communication,  the  advantages  of 25 35 

Communists 18 33 

Conflict,  the  coming 168 83 

Confidence  in  promises 358 151 

Congressman  Starkweather 73 48 

Congress,  the  duty  of 299 133 

Congress,  the  isolation  of 301 134 

Congress,  the  Union  and 225 102 

Congress,  the  vote  of .334 143 

Congress,  what  Congress  is 336,  337,  338 1 44 

Constitution,  the 104 

Constitution,  the  idea  of 231 104 

Corner-stone,  the,  of  Garfield's  creed 1 29 

Corruption  and  cash 306 154 

Country,  business  of  the 369 157 

Country,  the  servant  of  his 189 90 

Course,  the  student's 100 50 

Covenant,  the 227. . .  .103 

Creed,  Garfield's,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  11,  12,  13,  14 29 

Crime,  treatment  of 23 34 

Criticism,  free 145 77 


170  INDEX. 

NO.  OF  SATINO.      PAOB 

Criticism,  unjust 146 77 

Currency,  an  uncertain 352 150 

J)  ANGER 16 33 

Danger,  a,  in  education 101 57 

Danger,  our  safeguard  from 120 64 

Danger,  our  sovereign's 273 122 

Dangers  of  suffrage,  the 274 122 

Dead ,  the 27 35 

Death  of  parties  and  liberty 3G8 137 

Death  of  slavery 374 1 59 

Death,  a  soldier's 377 161 

Debt  questions 345 148 

Deception  of  calm,  the 37 38 

Declaration  of  Independence 222 101 

Defense,  the  common 223. . .  .102 

Demagogue,  the 322 140 

Democratic  principle,  the 297. . .  .133 

Democratic  and  Republican  parties,  the 314 138 

Descendants  of  great  men 77 51 

Desire  of  men,  the 39 38 

Despotism 333 143 

Difficult  problems 240 107 

Disaster  of  vice,  the 2G9 121 

Discipline,  campaign 204 95 

Discipline,  national 200 94 

Discovery,  the  moment  of 63 45 

Discovery,  methods  of 33 37 

Disfranchised  peasantry 271 121 

Dishonor,  too  costly  for  the  people 208 96 

Doctrine  of  chance,  the 29 36 

Doctrine,  permanent  political 319 139 

Dogma  of  divine  right,  the 249 112 

Dollar,  the 294. . .  .132 

Dollars,  equality  of 363 153 

Dread,  Cat-field's 10 31 

Duty  of  Congress 299 133 

Duty,  our 202 94 

Duty,  the  first,  of  the  press 144 76 


INDEX.  171 

NO.  OF  SATING.      PACK 

Duty  of  the  journalist,  the 149 78 

Duties,  our 239 ....  107 

J£DUC  ATION. 55 

•Education,  a  danger  in 101 57 

Education,  a  finished 110 60 

Education,  and  industry Ill Gl 

Education,  a  principle  of 93 55 

Education,  beginning  of,  the 95 55 

Education,  best  system  of,  the 105 59 

Education,  graduates,  their  achievements  in 99 56 

Education,  the  importance  of 106 59 

Education,  the  mind  in 104 58 

Education,  new  necessities  of 97 55 

Education,  outrages  of.    94 55 

Education,  the  student's  course  in 100 56 

Education,  the,  of  women 114 63 

Education,  wrongly  directed  effort  in 96 55 

Effort  in  public  life,  Garfield's 6 30 

Eloquence,  a  spray  of 131 70 

Eloquence,  the  power  of 87 

Emigration 278 127 

Em pire,  an 235 106 

End  of  war,  the 389 165 

Equality  of  dollars 363. . .  .153 

Ethics,  the  principle  of 42 39 

Exchange,  the  Gold 355 151 

Expenditure  of  revenue,  the 365. ..  .154 

to  the  front 258.... 115 

Faith,  bad 357. ...151 

Fame  of  the  Fisherman,  the .  .45 40 

Farmer,  the 188 90 

Fate  of  a  paper  currency,  the 342. . .  .147 

Fault  of  modern  literature,  a 124 65 

Federalists,  the 309 136 

Feelings  of  a  statesman,  the 134 

Fellowship  of  the  virtues,  the 34 37 

Female  suffrage 292 131 


172  INDEX. 

NO.  OF  SATING.     PAGE 

Feudalism,  industrial 243 109 

Fight  against  gloom,  the 11 31 

Final  departure,  the 303 134 

Final  reconciliation,  the 203 95 

Finance  and  the  public  credit 146 

Finance  and  public  opinion 353. . .  .150 

Finance,  sleight-of-hand 343 147 

Financial  health 367 154 

Financial  literature 362 153 

Financial  subjects 348,  349 149 

Finished  education,  a 110 60 

Fisherman,  the  fame  of  the 45 40 

Forced  work  in  literature 127 67 

Forces,  terrestrial 324 141 

Fools,  the 30 36 

Foundation  of  character,  the 57 43 

Formation  of  strong  character 59 60 

Fountains  of  our  strength 259 116 

Free  criticism 145 77 

Freedom 79 

Freedom's  soul 156 80 

Freedom,  the  language  of 158 80 

Freedom,  obstacles  to 159 80 

Freedom,  what  it  is 160 81 

Front,  facing  to  the 258 115 

Fruits  of  occasion,  the 32 37 

Future,  our 386 163 

Future,  the  architects  of  the 117 63 

QEORGE  H.  THOMAS 65,  66,  67,  39.. 45,  36 

George  Washington 220,  221 101 

Germs  of  the  Constitution,  the 102 

Germs  of  our  institutions 226 102 

Giving,  the  idea  of 102 57 

Gloom,  safety  from 12  ....  32 

Gloom,  the  tight  against 11 31 

Glory  of  manhood,  the 92 54 

Glory  of  our  institutions 240 107 

God  "in  history 138 74 


INDEX.  173 

NO.  OF  SATINO.     PAOB 

God,  men  and  their 40 38 

Gold  Exchange,  the 355 151 

Golden  thread  of  progress 180 88 

Good  symbol,  a 17 33 

Governments,  the  management  of 332. . .  .143 

Government,  duly  of,  in  education 115 62 

Government,  our  theory  of 285...  .129 

Government,  powers  of 331. . .  .142 

Governments,  proportion  in 329. . .  .142 

Governments  and  man 22 34 

Graduate's  achievements,  the 99 56 

Graduation,  a  condition  of 113 61 

Great  age,  a 205 96 

Great  ideas 122 65 

Great  men 50 

Great  men,  descendants  of 77 50 

Great  hope,  a 387. ...  164 

Great  political  change,  a 376. ..  .160 

Great  powers 151 78 

Great  quality,  a 217 100 

Greece,  a  story  of 276 125 

Greek 98 56 

Growth 81 51 

TTAPPINESS,  our 44 40 

Health,  financial 367.  ...154 

Heroes 181 89 

History 73 

History,  God  in 138 74 

History,  the  battle  of 133 73 

History,  the  lesson  of 137 74 

History,  the  lights  of 139 75 

History,  the  rewriting  of 135 73 

History,  truth  in 140 75 

History,  what  it  is 134 73 

Historian's  work,  the 141 75 

Honor,  American 193 92 

Honors 76 50 

Hope,  a  great 387. . .  .164 


174  INDEX. 

NO.  07  SATINO.      PACK 

Horace,  an  Ode  from 130 68 

Hour,  the  need  of  the 206 96 

House,  the  third 289 130 

How  to  study 107,  108 59 

Human  wisdom,  a  weakness  in 393 166 

TDEA  of  a  battle 391 ...  .165 

Idea  of  giving,  the 102 57 

Ideal  census,  an 295 132 

Ideas 65 

Ideas,  great 122 65 

Ideas,  immortal 307 136 

Ideas,  the  life  of 121 65 

Ignorance  in  the  voter 268 120 

Importance  of  education 106 59 

Independence,  the  Declaration  of 222 101 

Independence  in  journalism 148. ...  77 

Industrial  feudalism 243 109 

Industries,  national 210 97 

Industry 170 84 

Industry,  commerce  and 84 

Industry,  education  and Ill 61 

Inflationists 350. . .  .149 

Influences  of  character 57 43 

Influences,  the  early 62 45 

Inheritance,  our 198 93 

Institutions,  national 234 105 

Institutions,  our 105 

Institutions,  the  glory  of  our 241. . .  .107 

Institutions,  understanding  our 236. . .  .106 

Intelligent  Americans 47 40 

Intercourse 26 35 

Isolation  of  Congress,  the 301 134 

Isolated  place,  an 302. . . .  134 

JOHN  STUART  MILL 71 47 

Journalism,  independent 148 77 

Journalist,  the  duty  of  the 149 78 

Judgment  of  leaders 283. ...  128 


INDEX.  175 

VO.  OF  SATIlfO.     PACK 

J£NO  WLEDGE 87 f>3 

Knowledge  of  character 55 42 

T  ADORER'S  commodity,  the 38 38 

Labor  of  the  people,  the 197 93 

Language  of  freedom 158 80 

Law  and  order 81 

Law,  supreme 182 89 

Law,  the  reign  of 162 81 

Law,  the,  and  the  locomotive 165 82 

Law,  our  theory  of 230 104 

Law?,  the 190 91 

Leaders,  the  judgment  of 283 128 

Legacy,  our 183 89 

Legislation 141 

Legislator  and  statistics,  the 329. ..  .141 

Legislator's  study,  a 328  ...141 

Legislate,  the  way  we 280. . .  .127 

Leisure,  the  value  of 61 44 

Lesson  of  the  monuments,  the 122 

Lessons  of  charity,  the 287 129 

Lessons  of  endurance,  the 277 125 

Lessons  of  history,  the 137 74 

Liberty  and  peace 211 97 

Liberty's  weakness 155 79 

Liberty,  the  safety  of 154 79 

Liberty,  the  foundations  of  English 157 80 

Liberties,  a  monument  of 131 70 

Life  behind,  the 300. ...  134 

Life  of  ideas,  the .121 65 

Life  »f  parties,  the 311 137 

Life  of  the  nation,  the  light  and 224 102 

Life,  the  nation's 252 113 

Life,  success  in 51 

Light 49 40 

Light  and  life  of  the  nation,  the 224....  102 

Lights  of  history,  the 139 75 

Lights  of  practical  science,  the 298 133 

Lincoln's  character 69 46 


176  INDEX. 

NO.  OF  SATING.    PAOB 

Lincoln's  place 08 46 

Literature 05 

Literature,  financial 362 153 

Literature,  forced  work  in 127 57 

Literature,  modern,  a  fault  of 124 05 

Literature,  the  real  spirit  of 125 66 

Literature,  the  relations  of  art  to 323 65 

Lost  opportunity,  a 385. . .  .163 

Luck 79 51 

Lying 21 34 

]\  TAJORITY,  the  will  of  the 229 103 

Management  of  governments,  the 332 143 

Mandate  of  Christianity,  the 24 34 

Man,  government  and 22 34 

Man  men  love,  the 83 52 

Man,  the  portion  of 41 39 

Manhood   the  glory  of 92 54 

Martyrs  of  the  [tress,  the 143 76 

Massachusetts,  Virginia  and 228 103 

Measure  of  value,  a 325 J41 

Memoir 7 

Menace,  a 340 146 

Men  and  their  God 40 38 

Men,  great 50 

Men  of  1862,  the 361 152 

Men  in  Revolution,  the  strength  of 379. . .  .162 

Men,  the  desire  of 39 38 

Men,  towering 75 50 

Men  who  succeed , 78 51 

Methods  of  discovery 33 37 

Military  science 291 131 

Millennium,  a  missent ^ 48 40 

Mill,  John  Stuart 71 47 

Mind,  the,  in  education 104 58 

Minority,  the 326 141 

Miss  Booth 70 46 

Modern  predictions 177 86 

Moment  of  discovery,  the 63 45 


INDEX.  177 

NO.  OP  SATINO.     PAQI 

Monarchy  w.  Republic 247. . .  .111 

Monument  of  our  liberties,  a 131 70 

Monuments,  the  lesson  of  the 122 

Monuments,  what  they  teach 275.... 122 

Most  interesting  object  in  the  world,  the 60 44 

Mystery  of  sorrow,  a 36 37 

RATION,  the 113 

Nation,  the  behavior  of  the 260 116 

Nation,  the  history  of  the 254 114 

Nation,  the  perils  of  a 194 92 

Nation,  purpose  of  the 253 113 

Nation,  the  supremacy  of  the 257 115 

Nation's  life,  the 252. . .  .113 

National  advancement 186 90 

National  bravery 195 92 

National  discipline 200 94 

National  industries 210 97 

National  institutions 234 105 

National  passions 196 93 

National  perpetuity 201 94 

National  talent 212 97 

Necessities,  the  new,  in  education 97 55 

Need  of  the  hour,  the 206 92 

Need  of  vigilance,  the 381. . .  .166 

QBJECT,  the  most  interesting  in  the  world 60 44 

Obstacles  to  freedom .159 80 

Occasion,  the  fruits  of 32 37 

Ode  from  Horace,  an 130....  68 

Opinion,  the  kingdom  of 35 37 

Opportunity,  a  lost 385. . .  .163 

Opposition,  a  bulwark  of 8 31 

Order  of  the  universe 161 81 

Origin  of  the  Republic,  the 246 111 

Our  duty 202 94 

Our  future 386 163 

X\Our  l-appiness 44 40 

Our  inheritance 198 93 

12 


178  INDEX. 

KO.  OF  SATTCG.      PAGH 

Our  institutions 105 

Our  legacy 18-3 89 

Our  national  safety 272 121 

Our  people ]  85 89 

Our  success 244 109 

Our  temple S84 1G3 

Our  theory  of  government 285 12D 

Our  theory  of  law 230 104 

Outrages  of  education,  the 94 55 

TDAPER  currency,  the  fate  of  a 342  ...147 

'     Partisanship." 316.... 138 

Party  amenities 317 139 

Partv  governments 315. ..  .138 

Party  record 310  ..  .137 

Party,  the  Republican 313. ...  137 

Parties,  Democratic  and  Republican 314. . .  .138 

Parlies,  the  birth  of 300 130 

Parties,  the  control  of 312.... 137 

Parties,  the  death  of,  and  liberty 308 136 

Parties,  the  life  of 311.... 137 

Passion,  national 196 93 

Patrimony  of  the  colonists,  the 215 99 

Peace,  liberty  and 211 97 

Peace  to  be,  the 382 162 

Peasantry,  disfranchised,  a 271. ..  .121 

People,  dishonor  too  costly  for  the 208 96 

People  of  the  Republic,  the 281 117 

People,  our 185 89 

People,  railways  and  the 163 82 

People,  the  labor  of  the 197 93 

Perfidy  of  a  nation,  the 347. . .  .148 

Perils  *of  a  nat  inn,  the 194 92 

Permanent  political  doctrines 319,  320. . .  .139 

Perpetuity,  national 201 94 

Personal  ambition 251 112 

Perversions  of  education,  the 103.  ...  .59 

Picker-up  of  bird-seed,  a 21)0. . .  .131 

Place,  au  isolated 302. ..  .134 


INDEX.  179 

I»0.  OF  SATriCO.    PAGE 

Pluck 84 52 

Political  catch-words 293 132 

Polil  ical  issues 318 139 

Political  training 288 130 

Portion  of  man,  the 41 39 

Poverty 80 51 

Poverty  no  obstacle  to  success. 64 45 

Power 78 

Power,  absolute 332 105 

Power  as  a  soldier 67 46 

Power,  in  the  speech,  the 28 36 

Power  of  eloquence,  the 87 

Power  of  war 392 165 

Powers,  great 151 78 

Powers  of  government 331. . .  .142 

Powers  of  intellect,  the 119 63 

Powers  of  the  citizen,  the 248 112 

Powers,  the  exhibition  of 150 78 

Powers,  useful 207 9G 

Prediction?,  modern 177 86 

Presidential  fever,  the 305. . .  .135 

Press,  the 76 

Press,  the  first  duty  of  the 144 76 

Press,  the  martyrs  of  the 143 76 

Press,  the  men  of  the 147 77 

Principle,  a,  of  education 93 55 

Principle  of  Garfield's  creed 2 29 

Principle,  the  democratic 297. . .  .133 

Principles  of  ethics,  the 42 39 

Privileges  of  youth,  the 54 

Privileges,  two 91 55 

Problems,  difficult 240. . .  .107 

Problems  of  character 54 41 

Progress,  the  g.  Men  thread  of 380 88 

Promises,  confidence  in 358. . .  .151 

Proportion 89 53 

Proportion  in  governments   329. . .  .142 

Purpose  of  literarv  production,  the 128 67 

Purpose,  the  nation's 253. ..  .113 


180  INDEX. 

NO.  OF  SATING.     PAGE 

QUALITY,  a  great 217. ..  .100 

^^  Qualities  of  statesmanship,  the 321 140 

Question  of  weight,  a 116 62 

Questions,  unsettled 267 120 

"DADICAL,  a,  not  a  fool 7 31 

•LL  Railroads 82 

Railroads  and  the  people 163 82 

Railroads,  the  work  of  the 166 83 

Railroads,  value  of 164 82 

Rare  gift  of  character,  a 58 43 

Real  spirit  of  literature,  the 125 66 

Reconciliation,  the  final 203 95 

Reign  of  the  law,  the 162 81 

Relations  of  art  and  literature,  the 123 65 

Remission  of  slavery,  the 372 158 

Reply,  a  Christian's 14 32 

Repression  and  expression 256. ..  .114 

Republic  vs.  Monarchy 247 111 

Republic,  character  of 371 158 

Republic,  cohesion  of  the 118 

Republic,  movement  of  the 284 128 

Republic,  the  chance  of  the 85 52 

Republic,  the  origin  of  the 246 111 

Republic,  the  stability  of  the 245 110 

Republican  part}-,  the 313.... 137 

Resolution,  a 176 86 

Resumption,  successful 356 151 

Resumption,  three  reasons  for 360 152 

Revenue 154 

Revenue,  a  motive  power 364 154 

Revenue,  the  expenditure  of 365 154 

Rewriting  of  history,  the 135 73 

Right  of  private  judgment,  the 184 89 

Right  of  the  American  people 187 90 

Robert  Burns 74 48 

SACRIFICE  for  self-government,  the 216 99 

Safeguard  from  danger,  our .120 64 


INDEX.  181 

NO.  OF  SATINO.     PAGI 

Safety  from  gloom 12 32 

Safety  of  liberty,  the 154 79 

Safety,  our  national 272 121 

Safety,  suffrage  and 265 120 

Scholarship,  theological 46 40 

Science  of  statistics,  the 178 86 

Scientific  spirit,  the 175 85 

Secession 279 127 

Self-government,  the  sacrifice  for 216 99 

Servant  of  his  country,  the 189 90 

Shallowness  of  words,  the 19 33 

Shores  of  life,  the 9 31 

Shriveled  time  of  life,  the 4 30 

Sign-posts,  revenue  laws  as 351. . .  .149 

Simplicity  of  character,  Geo.  H.  Thomas' 66 46 

Slavery 158 

Slavery,  the  death  of 374 159 

Slavery,  the  remission  of 372 158 

Slavery,  the  victims  of 375 160 

Sleight-of-hand  finance 343 147 

Society 237,  262.  .106,  117 

Soldier's  death,  the 377 161 

Solution,  the  value  of  a 169 83 

Soul,  Freedom's 156 80 

Sound  words 339 145 

Sovereignty 214 99 

Sovereign's  danger,  our 273. . .  .122 

Sovereign's  power 20 34 

Spirit  of  art,  the 51 41 

Spirit  of  the  war,  the 383 163 

Spirit,  the  food  of  the 153 79 

Spirit,  the  scientific 175 .85 

Sprav  of  eloquence,  a 70 

Stability  of  the  Republic,  the 245 110 

Standard,  an  uncertain 354 151 

Starkweather,  Congressman 73 48 

States'  rights 157 

State,  church  and 296. ..  .132 

Statesmanship 140 


182  INDEX. 

NO.  OF  SATING.    PACK 

Statesmanship,  special  training  for 323  . .  .140 

Statesmanship,  the  qualities  of 321. . .  .140 

Statistics 84 

Statistics,  the  birth  of 172 84 

Statistics,  what  they  are 173.  ...   85 

Statistics,  what  they  did 174 85 

Statistics,  the  legii-latnre  and 327. . .  .141 

Statistics,  the  science  of 178 80 

Story  of  Greece,  a 270 125 

Strength,  the  fountains  of  our 259 116 

Study,  a  legislator's 328 141 

Study,  how  to 107,  108 59 

Student's  studies,  the 118 03 

Succeed,. the  men  who 78 51 

Success  in  life 51 

Success,  our 244. ...  109 

Successful  resumption 35G. . .  .151 

Suffrage  and  safety 235 120 

Suffrage,  female 2D2 131 

Suffrage,  the 12) 

Suffrage,  violation  of  the 200 120 

Supremacy  of  the  nation,  the 257 115 

Supreme  law 182 83 

Symbol,  a  good 17 33 

System,  the  best,  of  education 105 59 

HHALKNT,  native 212 97 

Talent  s  substitute 31 37 

Temple,  our 384 103 

Tent,  the,  where  to  pitch  it 53 41 

Terrestrial  forces 324 141 

Territory 2o5 114 

Theory  of  government,  our 285 123 

The  press 70 

Third  house,  the 283  ...  130 

Thomas,  George  H 05,  GO,  07 45 

Three  reasons  for  resumption 300. . .  .152 

Towering  men 75 50 

Trade  aud  business 155 


INDEX.  183 

50.  OF  SATING.     PACK 

Trade,  the  wants  of  ...............................  368  ____  155 

Training,  political  ................................  288  ____  130 

Training,  special,  for  statesman  ....................  o2J   .  .  .  140 

Translation  of  an  ode  fruni  Horace  .................  130  .....  08 

Treasures  of  American  souls  .......................  192  .....  9! 

Treatment  of  crime  ................................  23  .....  34 

True  art  ..........................................  50  .....  41 

True  literary  man,  tlie  ............................  126  ____   GO 

Trust,  the  right  ...................................  90  .....  53 

Truth  ....................................................  79 

Truth,  an  alarming  ..............................  373  .  .  .158 

Truth  in  history  .................................  140  .....  75 

Truth,  the  universality  of  .........................  152  .....  79 

UNCERTAIN  currency,  an  ......................  352.  ...  150 

Uncertain  .standard,  an  ........................  354.  .  .  .151 

Understanding  our  institutions  ....................  200  ....  106 

Union  and  Congrt^s,  the  ...........................  225  ____  102 

Union,  voters  of  the  ..............................  270  ____  121 

Universality  of  truth,  the  .........................  152  .....  79 

Universe,  order  in  the  .............................  lf»l  .....  81 

Unsettled  questions  ...............................  2G7  ____  123 

Uprightness  ........................................  5  .....  30 


a  measure  of  ...........................  325....  141 

Value  of  leisme.  the  ............................  Gl  .....  44 

Vitlue  of  railroads,  the  ............................  164  .....  82 

Value  of  victory,  the  ..............................  -.43  .....  39 

Vicarious  atonement,  the  ..........................  286  ____  129 

Vice,  the  disaster  of  ..............................  269  ____  121 

Victims  of  slavery,  the  ...........................  375   .  .  .160 

Vigilance,  the  need  of  ....................  ........  381  ____  102 

Virginia  and  Massachusetts  .......................  228  ____  103 

Voluntary  enterprise  ..............................  191  .....  91 

Voter,  ignorance  in  the  ...........................  2fi8.  .  .  .120 

Voters  of  the  Union,  the  ..........................  270  ____  121 

Voxjwpuli,  vox  Dti  .................  ,  ............  250  ____  112 

WANTS  of  trade,  the  ..........................  368....  155 

War,  how  it  should  be  studied  ................  380....  162 


184  INDEX. 

NO.  OF  SATINQ.    PAGE 

War,  the  end  of 389 165 

War,  the  power  of 392 165 

War  of  the  rebellion,  the 161 

War,  the  spirit  of  the 383 163 

War's  answer 388 165 

War  without  ideas 390 165 

Washington,  George 220,  221 101 

Way  to  legislate,  the 346 148 

Way  we  legislate,  the 280 127 

Weakness  in  human  wisdom,  a 393. . .  .166 

Weakness,  liberty's 155 79 

Weapon  of  civilization,  a 142 76 

Weight,  a  question  of 116 62 

What  Congress  is 336,  337,  338.  ...144 

What  freedom  is 160 81 

What  history  is 134 73 

What  statistics  are 173 85 

What  statistics  did 174 85 

Will  of  the  majority,  the 229. ..  .103 

Women,  the  education  of 114 62 

Words,  the  shallowness  of 19 33 

Work,  the  historian's 141 75 

World's  history,  the 136 74 

World's  wrath",  the 304. ..  .135 

Wreath,  the  bestowal  of  the 82 52 

Wrinkles 15 33 

Wrongly  directed  effort  in  education 96 55 

YOUTH,  the  privileges  of 54 

2 ACHARIAH  CHANDLER 72 47 


.<# 


'd±s£ 

— U-_ 


%,  „-# 


\. 


%, 


s 


•fc 


\    ^ 

\  ^ 


,<r    \ 


^s     $ 

jnpr®  * 


/ 


U.  C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CDS51573M3 


\ 


**+ 


\ 


